A 96-year-old woman was found dead when a SWAT team stormed a South Fulton, Georgia home at the end of a seven-hour standoff Thursday morning, police said.
The suspected shooter, 31-year-old Jeremy Ingram of South Fulton, was taken into custody and charged with murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, South Fulton police spokesman Lt. Jubal Rogers confirmed.
Ingram’s arrest came after negotiations soured at a home in the 5600 block of Grammercy Drive, where the man had been barricaded since about 7 p.m. Wednesday, police said.
When South Fulton police responded to the Wellesley Estates neighborhood off Union Road, Ingram barricaded himself in the home, police said in a news release. The South Metro SWAT team was called in and attempted crisis negotiations with the man, but he refused to surrender or engage in conversation, Rogers said.
Authorities were eventually able to arrest Ingram, who had minor injuries, according to the release. The woman’s body was found inside.
The victim, identified as 96-year-old Sara Barnett, was the grandmother of Ingram.
Arrest warrants said relatives told police they witnessed Ingram as he “walked into the family room with a firearm in his hand, approached Barnett who was sitting in the recliner, and shot her.”
The documents also claim he admitted to shooting her, “after which, he went to his bedroom and went to sleep in his closet. Ingram claims that he slept through the South Metro SWAT Team dispersing tear gas into the residence and was awakened by officers pulling him out of the closet.”
The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office and the Atlanta Police Department aided in the arrest.
The victim and suspect were related, South Fulton police said.
Neighbors said they saw three women run out of the home Wednesday night screaming “he shot her!” The family had just moved into the home around Christmas and was still getting acquainted with the neighborhood.
No motive was given.
The warrants also allege that Ingram was read his Miranda rights, but he waived his right to an attorney. He is currently being held in the Fulton County jail and is expected to make his first appearance in court on Friday Morning.
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