Lauren Brown: Divorced and penniless former IBM consultant identified as the man who lured firefight
Revealed: Divorced and penniless former IBM consultant was gunman who was shot dead in SWAT siege after luring firefighters into his home
- Lauren Brown, 55, barricaded himself inside the two-story house in Suwanee 35 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta
- He was holding the firefighters at gunpoint and had half-dozen weapons in his house
- Five firefighters were originally being held but the gunman released one to move a fire truck
- Brown lured the team to his home by faking a heart attack and then demanding they turn back on his utilities that had been switched off
- Hostages suffered only minor injuries
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Desperate man: Lauren Brown, 55, a former consultant for IBM, has been identified as the slain suspect who held four firefighters hostage for hours in his suburban Atlanta home
A gunman who lured firefighters to his Georgia home with an emergency call, then held four of them hostage for hours before being shot to death was identified Thursday as a down-on-his-luck IBM consultant.
Lauren Brown's life apparently reached a crisis this spring. With his power, cable and other utilities cut off because of nonpayment, the 55-year-old had half a dozen guns in his house and spent weeks planning the kidnapping, targeting firefighters rather than police Wednesday so he wouldn't be shot, authorities said.
The specific reasons he chose to lash out aren't known, but Brown had separated from his wife years earlier, though he still lived across the street from her, her new husband and his two children, according to neighbors and people who knew the family.
Brown had worked as a consultant for IBM in 1999, but described himself as disabled when he filed for bankruptcy protection three years later, according to court documents. He said he owed more than $100,000 to the Home Depot, banks and credit card companies.
The records suggest that Brown was taping into his retirement savings to make ends meet. A series of tax liens had been placed on his home, which slipped into foreclosure in recent months.
He was arrested and booked into the Gwinnett County jail in 2010 after he failed to appear in court on a charge of striking an unmanned vehicle.
Brown called 911 Wednesday and said he was suffering from chest pains, and five Gwinnett County firefighters arrived at 3.48pm, believing it was a routine call, said Police Chief Charles Walters.
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Aftermath: Gwinnett County Police Department Crime Scene Investigator Ashley Pizzuto, left, and Detective Cole Crosby outside's Brown's home damaged in the raid
Sad outcome: Yellow crime scene tape surrounds Lauren Brown's red-brick home that become the scene of a hostage situation which resulted in his death
Brown was lying in bed and appeared to be suffering from a condition that left him unable to move. But when they approached the bed to help him, he pulled out a handgun, Walters said.
He let one of the firefighters go to move the vehicles from the front of his house but kept the other four.
That began a three-and-a-half hour standoff. At about 7.30pm, police were convinced that even if they met Brown's demands, he had no intention of releasing his hostages, Walters said.
Over the course of several hours of negotiations, police said Brown demanded that officers bring him wood and tools so he could board up his windows.
He also had requested items from a fast food seafood restaurant for himself and his hostages, and a SWAT officer carrying the food approached the house in Suwannee, about 35 miles northeast of Atlanta.
Other SWAT members set off a stun blast to distract Brown and stormed the house. Brown opened fire on the first officer as he entered the bedroom.
The man was hit in the left forearm by one of the shots, but managed to return fire, killing Brown. Before Brown fired, police told him to drop his weapon, Walters said.
Exposed wooden beams could be seen through a gaping hole in the side of the house Thursday and debris littered the yard. Public records indicate the red brick house with white siding is in foreclosure and has been bank-owned since mid-November.
Next to Brown's home, another brick house with tan siding appeared to have even more damage. A large area of the side was missing, again with wooden beams and insulation exposed.
A Gwinnett County Police Department crime scene investigator carries a handful of spent stun grenades that were used during the raid on Brown's house to end the standoff
Jasmin Gutierez, 12, was at home with her family in that house Wednesday afternoon. They huddled in the master bedroom at the other end of the house.
‘We started, like, at least trying to get in a group hug to save ourselves because we got scared,’ she said. ‘I mean there was a lot of people, like the SWAT teams and the police.’
After a while, they heard a loud bang and then they heard shooting and black smoke started to fill their home and police knocked on the door to make sure they were all right.
After the hostage-taking was reported, dozens of police and rescue vehicles surrounded the home and a negotiator was keeping in touch with the gunman, police said.
The situation remained tense until the blast rocked the neighborhood of mostly two-story homes and well-kept lawns.
‘The explosion you heard was used to distract the suspect, to get into the house and take care of business,’ Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Edwin Ritter said in a news conference minutes after the ordeal ended.
He said the situation had gotten to the point where authorities believed the lives of the hostages were in ‘immediate danger.’
‘It's an unfortunate circumstance we did not want to end this way,’ Ritter said. ‘But with the decisions this guy was making, this was his demise.’
Firefighters were able to use their radios to let the dispatch center know what was going on and that's how negotiators communicated with Brown initially, Walters said.
Once they got his cell phone service turned back on, they were able to speak to him by phone.
Fire officials did not believe there was any danger in responding to the initial call that seemed routine and dispatched the usual one engine and one ambulance to the house.
Operation: At about 7:30 p.m an explosion shook the area and a SWAT team entered the home, shooting dead the suspect
All over: A group of people huddle together after an explosion and gunshots were heard near the scene where a man was holding four firefighters hostage
'The explosion you heard was used to distract the suspect, to get into the house and take care of business,' Ritter said in a news conference minutes after the resolution. He said the situation had gotten to the point where authorities believed the lives of the hostages were in 'immediate danger.'
'It's an unfortunate circumstance we did not want this to end this way,' Ritter said. 'But with the decisions this guy was making, this was his demise.'
A SWAT officer was shot in the hand or arm as the team entered the residence but he is expected to be fine.
NBC News reported that police had made several visits to Brown’s home in the past, but never for any serious criminal activity.
Brown’s next-door neighbor, Ozzie Greco, told WSB-TV that the former IBM consultant was a nice man but had recently run into personal and financial problems which ended up taking a heavy toll on his mental health.
'He was very sick in the mind,' Greco said.
The neighbor added that as recently as two weeks ago, he offered Brown help, but the man declined.
When the first hostage was released from Brown’s home Wednesday evening before gunfire erupted, Greco stepped outside his home and saw the 55-year-old, who told him to go back inside.
‘It's sad, because I remember him as a good person,’ said another neighbor Claudia Bayoma.
This was the second time in recent months that firefighters have been targeted.
On December 24, a man in upstate New York set his house ablaze and shot and killed two firefighters as they arrived, then himself. Two other firefighters and a police officer were wounded.
The gunman had originally taken five men hostage just before 4pm but one firefighter was released to move a fire truck, according to authorities. The man allegedly faked a heart attack to lure the firefighters to his two-story house.
Police had been communicating with the unidentified suspect before the SWAT team entered the property. The suspect was apparently suffering financial difficulties and was asking to have his power and cable be turned back on, Fox News reported.
Police said the firemen responded to the home on Walnut Grove Way after the seemingly routine medical call.
Ambulance: An EMT works in the back of an ambulance as it leaves an Suwanee, Ga., subdivision after an explosion and gunshots were heard
Team: Gwinnett County Police Department SWAT members, pictured, shot and killed the suspect just before 8 p.m.
'They arrived at the scene. They went in and began to do what they do every day when they were taken hostage,' said Rutledge earlier. 'There was no indication there would be anything wrong at the home even when they made entry.'
He said the firefighters responded to the address with one ambulance and one fire engine, adding that they are cross trained as medical and firefighting forces. Rutledge would not comment on whether there was a genuine medical emergency.
Ritter said authorities did not believe there were any civilians inside the house but claimed he didn't know whether the man was alone when the original call was made.
Scene: A gunman is holding four firefighters hostage in Georgia after they responded to medical call
Stand off: Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Edwin Ritter said the man has barricaded himself inside the house, pictured, in Suwanee with the firefighters who responded to a medical call
Streets: Television helicopter footage showed police and fire trucks surrounding the neighborhood of mostly two-story homes and well-kept lawns about 35 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta
The residence is near Collins Hill Road and Taylor Road. According to the TV station, the house, worth around $150,000, had been foreclosed on.
Freddie Mac confirmed that the bank is prepping the property for sale but that it was not yet on the market. Spokesman Brad German said there was a tenant living in the house when it was foreclosed. It's not clear whether that person is still living there.
Television helicopter footage showed dozens of police and fire trucks surrounding the neighborhood of mostly two-story homes and well-kept lawns about 35 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta.
Local news crews are on the scene but Ritter had asked that TV helicopters stay clear of the airspace for the safety of all involved.
The home is near Collins Hill Park, Walnut Grove Elementary School and Collins Hill High School.
Those schools are closed this week for spring break. Residents were not being allowed into the neighborhood during the stand off, according to Fox News.
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