Man, woman dead after incident on Vandiver Drive in East Cobb

2 dead after Cobb SWAT strandoff on Vandiver Drive

Two people are dead following a Cobb County SWAT standoff on Vandiver Drive on Sunday. The GBI is investigating. 

COBB COUNTY, Ga. - A welfare check at a Cobb County home turned into a deadly SWAT standoff Sunday morning. The incident, which ended with two people dead inside a residence on Vandiver Drive, is now under investigation by state authorities.

What we know:

Cobb County police arrived at a home in the 3100 block of Vandiver Drive near Rainwater Drive around 8:30 a.m. Sunday to perform a welfare check on a woman. Officers saw a man pacing inside through a window, but he refused to come out.

Around 11 a.m., a shot was fired from inside the home, prompting a SWAT response. During the standoff, additional shots were fired toward officers, so a police sniper returned fire and wounded the man.

A police drone allowed officers to see the man was still alive after being shot, but he continued to refuse to comply with law enforcement. According to Officer Aaron Wilson, the man eventually took his own life. Authorities later entered the home and found a woman dead inside.

What we don't know:

It is currently unclear how the woman died or exactly when her death occurred. While police believe the man and woman knew each other, they have not confirmed the exact nature of their relationship.

What they're saying:

Officer Aaron Wilson explained that the department made every effort to resolve the situation peacefully before it ended in tragedy.

"Our crisis negotiations team, which is our negotiators, they again attempted to make contact with them several different ways, multiple different times," Wilson said. "The SWAT team was on scene. You heard through their loudspeaker. Numerous, numerous times, they had tried to establish communication, and he refused every attempt that was made."

"I've seen that kind of situation once before, so when they started on the bullhorn, I sort of knew what was going on. They're just trying to get somebody to come out of the house," a man who lives in the area told FOX 5. 

"People are coming out because we just don't have this type of activity and are just curious about what is going on," another resident said. 

What's next:

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident. This is standard protocol whenever an officer fires their weapon during a call.

The Cobb County Police Major Crimes Unit will be conducting a separate death investigation.