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Lawyer taken hostage near City Hall in Georgia town

The Associated Press

STATESBORO, Ga.- A lawyer was taken hostage in his office near City Hall on Monday, and police cordoned off part of downtown as they tried to negotiate for the man’s release.

Police were negotiating with possibly two suspects, said Trooper Larry Schnall, a spokesman for the Georgia State Patrol, which was sending a SWAT team to the scene.

He could not confirm whether the suspects were armed.

A woman who answered the phone Monday at the office where the lawyer works said the office was closed and hung up.

Statesboro, a city of 22,000 that is home to Georgia Southern University, is 225 miles southeast of Atlanta. The community’s Martin Luther King Day parade, which was to pass by the county courthouse near the scene, was canceled because of the standoff.