Update: Jamie hood has released four of the eight people he was holding hostage.
Associated Press
ATHENS, Ga. — The man suspected in the shooting death of a police officer is holding eight hostages at an Athens apartment, Georgia’s top law-enforcement official said Friday evening as local and federal authorities tried to negotiate a peaceful surrender.
Vernon Keenan, the head of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said authorities were communicating with 33-year-old Jamie Hood, who authorities have been seeking since the officer’s slaying on Tuesday. Keenan said he believes the people in the apartment are safe.
“It is our objective to have the safe release of persons who are with him and then to have the safe surrender of Mr. Hood,” Keenan said. “This is a very tense situation but we have a commitment to see the safe release of these people.”
A law enforcement official who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the case told The Associated Press that Hood contacted authorities and requested to speak with his mother and his attorney. The official said Hood was “agitated” and wary of negotiating with police.
Read more on the Associated Press.