Towne Lake Man Dies After Cherokee SWAT Standoff

What started out as a SWAT standoff has ended tragically in an upscale Towne Lake neighborhood. 

A man who barricaded himself inside a home at 351 Iron Hill Trace was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, Cherokee Sheriff's Office's Lt. Jamie Gianfala said Sunday evening.  

Cherokee sheriff's deputies were called to a home in Towne Lake Hills West off Towne Lake Parkway around 2:30 p.m. Sunday from the female homeowner requesting domestic standby so she can go inside the home and retrieve some of her belongings. 

Lt. Jamie Gianfala, acting spokesperson for the sheriff's office, said the woman, not wanting to escalate the situation, asked the deputy to wait outside the home while she went inside.

The woman quickly returned and told the deputy the man inside had a weapon.

Gianfala said Cherokee County SWAT Team and negotiators arrived on the scene and attempts to make contact with the man through the telephone and a P.A. system were "unsuccessful."

Gianfala said the SWAT Team, which included members of the Woodstock Police Department, sent a robot inside the house shortly before 6 p.m. and were able to discover the man was deceased.

"Investigators were able to view the male inside the home via (a) camera on the robot," Gianfala wrote in a press release. "The male was seated on the couch with what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound."

First responders and SWAT officials then went inside to confirm the man was deceased. 

Gianfala said the man and woman were both married, but added it's unclear what caused the situation to escalate.

"It’s very early into the investigation," he added. 

The Cherokee Sheriff's Office blocked entrance onto Iron Hill Trace through the duration of the crisis and Georgia State Patrol was called to the scene to secure the perimeter until after 6 p.m.