Search for suspect after Fayette County SWAT standoff

FAYETTE COUNTY, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - The search continued late Friday for the man who deputies said they considered dangerous and possibly armed. Earlier that afternoon, the same man prompted a two-hour-long SWAT standoff after a domestic dispute got out of hand.

Sam Latzzis, 48 slipped away from a home along Highway 314 near Kenwood Road around 6 p.m. Friday. For two hours, Latzzis has held a SWAT team at bay as they tried to talk him out of the home. Sheriff Barry Babb said Lattzzis was not in a proper state of mind.

“He had stated he wanted to commit suicide by cop. We are just telling people if you see him where ever you see him dial 911 immediately,” said Sheriff Babb.

Viewer video from neighbor Gordon Kakway showed a negotiator talking to Lattzzis with a bull horn.

“He said stuff like don’t do it and we can talk this out,” said Kakway.

According to the Sheriff, Lattzzis did more than talk, firing at officers with a BB gun, and then later came out with knives duct-taped to his hands, prompting officers to fire a beanbag-type weapon.

“At that point, he charged the officers, they actually fired a less lethal impact weapon,” said Sheriff Babb

The sheriff said Latzzis also came out wearing a heavy coat which deflected a Taser.

“It’s a quiet neighborhood, so this kind of thing doesn’t happen, so when something like this does happen it gets everybody’s attention,” said Kakway.

The sheriff said Lattzzis slipped away by escaping through a swampy watershed behind the home. Deputies used K-9s on the ground and drones in the air to track where Lattzzis might have gone.

As of late Friday night, deputies believed Lattzzis had left the Fayette County area, perhaps with the help of someone who gave him a ride.

Investigators also said Latzzis has three prior escape charges in the past.