2 officers, assailant shot dead in Georgia

Man barricaded himself and his mother inside his house for 16 hours

The Associated Press

AUSTELL, Ga. -- Police fatally shot a man Saturday who had gunned down two SWAT team members and barricaded himself and his 73-year-old mother inside their house in a 16-hour standoff that began with a fight between neighbors.

Greg Smith, 40, found his home surrounded by police Friday night after he shot and wounded an officer who tried to arrest him for assaulting a neighbor in this Atlanta suburb.

Five hours later, two Cobb County SWAT team members were killed when they stormed the house.

The standoff came to an end Saturday morning after negotiations with Smith ended abruptly, said Cobb County police spokesman Dana Pierce.

Police said officers didn't enter the home to end the standoff, but they acknowledged he was shot by police, indicating he was killed by a sniper.

Smith's mother, Mildred, walked to an ambulance and appeared to be unharmed, but was taken to a hospital because police had fired tear gas into the house during the standoff.

Police were first called Friday after Smith, a trucker, argued with neighbor Jerald Barnett, 55, and struck the man.

Barnett called police while Smith went in to his house and returned with a handgun, authorities said.

Officer J.H. Mestre, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, attempted to arrest Smith but was shot several times in the leg and the arm. He returned fire.

"I looked out my door and saw the police officer bleeding," Barnett said. "He was looking for cover so I told him to come on in and I helped him inside."

Officials at Wellstar Cobb Hospital wouldn't give Mestre's condition. Police said only that his injuries weren't life- threatening.

Police negotiated with Smith for more than four hours, then decided his mother was in danger and sent in the SWAT team Friday night.

"The way things had transpired, we had to draw the line," Pierce said.

Cobb County police Sgt. Steve Reeves, 35, and Officer Stephen Gilner, 32, were wounded during the SWAT team raid, and died at a hospital.

Police said they negotiated with Smith off and on throughout the night until talks ended abruptly about 9 a.m.

Residents of the middle-class community about 15 miles northwest of Atlanta described Smith as easy-going and mild-mannered.

"He didn't socialize a lot but he never created any problems. He was just very low key," Barnett said.

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