© Reuters
Gwinnett County Police Department SWAT members are shown in this handout courtesy of Gwinnett Daily Post responding to the scene of a barricaded gunman holding four firefighters hostage in a home in Suwanee, Georgia April 10, 2013. The gunman has died and an officer was wounded after an exchange of gunfire.
Atlanta - A gunman who took four Georgia firefighters hostage, demanding his utilities and cell phone service be restored, was killed on Wednesday in an exchange of gunfire with authorities who moved in to free the captives, police said.
A police officer was wounded and the firefighters, taken hostage after responding to what had appeared to be a medical call, suffered minor injuries during the rescue at a suburban Atlanta home, Gwinnett County police spokesman Edwin Ritter told a news conference.
Officials declined to give details about what happened inside the home, and Ritter could not immediately say whether the suspect died as a result of gunshots by law enforcement or a self-inflicted wound.
"This is the result of his actions," Ritter said. "We didn't want it this way but he was calling the shots, and this was the end result."
The man, whom police have not identified, had apparently been in financial trouble and demanded his power, cable television and cell phone service be restored, Ritter said.
"He wanted all those things turned back on," Ritter said. "That's why he was holding them hostage."
Property records show the home in Suwanee, about 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Atlanta, is owned by Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, and a Freddie Mac spokesman confirmed to WSB-TV that the property was in foreclosure.
Comment: For more background on the dangers of fracking read:
If this is what fracking is doing to animals - what is it doing to people?
Fracking Linked To Earthquakes In The U.S.
US: Environemental Protection Agency Finally Admits 'Fracking' Likely Polluted Town's Water