Southeast
SWAT standoff with shots fired at Atlanta luxury hotel ends as barricaded suspect is apprehended by police
The Atlanta Police Department and SWAT teams responded to a Georgia luxury hotel in downtown Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon, after an armed suspect barricaded himself inside and allegedly started shooting.
During a press conference at approximately 5:15 p.m., Atlanta Police Department’s Chief Darin Schierbaum and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens provided additional information about the incident.
Schierbaum identified 70-year-old J. Stevens Berger as the suspect, saying he was suffering from a mental health crisis and had an altercation with a hotel employee at approximately 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Berger lived at the hotel and was spotted during the incident on his balcony wearing a red mask.
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Berger had access to multiple weapons, including knives and guns, police said, and added they believe that he fired at least 15 shots.
“While the efforts were underway, he began firing a weapon,” Schierbaum said. “We believe he fired at least three different weapons; handguns, shotguns and rifles, that fired through the walls.”
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One witness told Fox News affiliate WAGA that the incident felt like something out of the video game “Grand Theft Auto.”
“We heard 10 shots. We walked outside, got everything on camera – the man throwing couches, shooting – very chaotic, very random,” Khalil Hagans said. “This is Atlanta. This is not a real place.”
Another witness told the news station that police prevented them from moving anywhere due to the active shooter.
“So, we looked up, and we was trying to look for him, and we seen him. We look at him for like five seconds and next thing you know ‘boom, boom, boom,’ he starts shooting again. So, it was like, we ducked behind here, and we just watching him,” said Jordan Hall. “It was like we were in the middle of a movie.”
One Atlanta police officer was injured with non-life-threatening injuries, police said, which ordered a shelter-in-place after the shooting started. At least two other officers returned fire, police said.
Police said that multiple charges are expected to be filed against Berger, including aggravated assault and reckless endangerment.
“We saw bravery, we saw an effort to preserve life,” Schierbaum said.
The update from police came after the Atlanta Police Department confirmed that they were investigating a barricaded suspect at the Four Seasons Hotel in Midtown where there were reports of gunfire.
In an update at approximately 4:30 p.m., police said that the suspect was apprehended and in custody, prompting a shelter-in-place order to be lifted.
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Southeast
Walz says Trump, Vance need classes on 'how to talk to women'
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said his Republican rivals do not know “how to talk to women” during a campaign event Tuesday.
Walz mocked former President Trump and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, during a speech in Savannah aimed at motivating Georgia voters to cast ballots before Election Day on Nov. 5.
“They want to talk about things that don’t impact you,” Walz said of the GOP presidential ticket. “The things that impact you, those young folks in here too – where are you going to find child care… How are you going to afford it?”
“Now, they asked JD Vance where we should get child care, and he said, ‘Ask grandma to do it,’ because God knows grandma is not doing anything else like having a career and living her life and doing things like that.”
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He was referring to an interview Vance did with conservative activist Charlie Kirk in early September, though the Ohio Republican’s comments did not focus on women alone but rather grandparents as a unit. He said getting “grandma or grandpa” to help with child care was “one of the ways you might be able to relieve a little bit of pressure on families who are paying so much for day care.”
Walz, however, mocked it, “We should offer classes to these guys to learn how to talk to women so they can get this right, because they don’t know how to do it.”
He said of the Democrats’ plan for child care, “We’re talking about making sure we’re hiring more people to work in child care, and we’re incentivizing and being able to subsidize some of the costs so that folks can get out and work. That makes a difference.”
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Outreach to women of all races, as well as economic and political backgrounds, has been a cornerstone of the Harris-Walz campaign’s efforts.
The latest push by the campaign’s allies has involved pointing out to married Republican women that they could vote for Vice President Kamala Harris over Trump without telling anyone – including their husbands.
Walz is doing a multi-stop tour in Georgia on Tuesday, exactly one week until Nov. 5 marks the end of the election season.
Both campaigns have dedicated significant attention to the battleground state, which President Biden won by less than 1% in 2020. In particular, both have pushed supporters to vote early in-person or absentee rather than on Election Day.
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The Trump campaign’s Georgia team said on Tuesday morning ahead of Walz’s public appearances, “Since Kamala Harris said she wouldn’t have done anything different from Joe Biden, Tim Walz is campaigning for another four years of unmanaged illegal immigration, sky-high prices, and war abroad.”
“Georgia voters know President Trump will fix what Kamala Harris broke and flock to the ballot box for his America First Agenda on Nov. 5,” the campaign said.
When asked for comment on Walz’s remarks specifically, Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the ex-president had a better record on women and families than Harris did.
“Kamala Harris may be the first woman Vice President, but she has implemented dangerously liberal policies that have left women worse off financially and far less safe than we were four years ago under President Trump,” Leavitt said. “Women deserve a president who will secure our nation’s borders, remove violent criminals from our neighborhoods, and build an economy that helps our families thrive – and that’s exactly what President Trump will do.”
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
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Southeast
Walz mocks Trump's age at Georgia rally, says he 'does qualify for Social Security'
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz mocked former President Trump’s age during a Tuesday evening rally in Georgia.
Walz criticized Trump’s proposal to stop taxing Social Security checks while quipping that Trump himself would be eligible for the program, which is for Americans aged 62 and older.
“Now, Trump came out with a plan that if we execute his plan, Social Security will go broke in six years,” he said, referring to a recent analysis of the effect of Trump’s tax proposals on Social Security.
“Social Security might not be very important to a guy like that. If you’re a billionaire and your dad gave you $400 million – you pretty much squandered all that, but you can just limp along on $400 million…he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care that he gets a check.”
GEORGIA GOP CHAIR SHARES 2-PRONGED ELECTION STRATEGY AS TRUMP WORKS TO WIN BACK PEACH STATE
The crowd whooped as Walz quipped, “Now he is nearly 80, so he does qualify for Social Security.”
“He does qualify, but he doesn’t give a damn. My mom cars who’s nearly 90. She uses her Social Security check,” Walz said. “[Democratic 2024 nominee Vice President Kamala Harris] and I will protect Social Security and Medicare and make it stronger.”
The former president’s age has been a favorite political cudgel for Harris allies since 81-year-old President Biden dropped out of the race.
The recent analysis from the Committee For a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), however, accused both Trump and Harris of a lack of sufficient answers on Social Security.
On her campaign website, Harris promised to “protect” Social Security “by making corporations and the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share in taxes,” though it does not elaborate much further.
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“Unfortunately, neither candidate has presented plans to fix Social Security’s finances despite the looming $16,500 cut facing a typical couple retiring just before insolvency,” the CRFB analysis said.
It did project, however, that Trump’s stated tax and tariff policies would advance the program’s expected solvency from fiscal year 2034 to FY 2031.
The former president has vowed to protect Social Security and Medicare during numerous public appearances on the campaign trail. He told supporters as recently as Monday evening at his own Georgia event, “I’m the one that’s going to make Social Security strong again.”
The evening rally was Walz’s last public stop in Georgia on Tuesday after multiple public events.
Both the Harris and Trump campaigns have poured enormous amounts of time and resources into the Peach State, which Biden won by less than 1% in 2020.
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The Trump campaign’s Georgia spokesperson Morgan Ackley said of Walz’s day-long swing, “Since Kamala Harris said she wouldn’t have done anything different from Joe Biden, Tim Walz is campaigning for another four years of unmanaged illegal immigration, skyhigh prices, and war abroad.”
“Georgia voters know President Trump will fix what Kamala Harris broke and flock to the ballot box for his America First Agenda on November 5th,” Ackley said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump campaign for comment on Walz’s specific remarks on Tuesday evening.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
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Southeast
FBI joins investigation as quiet mountain town rocked by hiker's slaying staged as bear attack
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has joined the multi-state manhunt for a Tennessee parolee who allegedly staged a bear attack in an attempt to cover up a hiker’s murder.
Nicholas Wayne Hamlett pretended to be a man named Brandon Andrade when he dialed 911 around 11:34 p.m. on Oct. 24 and told police he was injured and trapped in a body of water after a bear chased him off a cliff while hiking in Hamilton County, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook post.
Authorities traced the call to an area near Tellico Plains, northeast of Chattanooga. There, they found a bloodied corpse with Andrade’s ID.
But an autopsy revealed that the dead man was not Andrade — authorities do not know who the deceased man is, law enforcement told WSB-TV Atlanta.
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Forensic experts are working to produce a sketch of the “John Doe” in hopes of identifying him.
Police later learned that Andrade’s ID had been stolen by Hamlett and used multiple times. Police believe Hamlett stole the ID to escape parole, then faked his death for an unknown reason, the New York Post reported.
Hamlett, 45, used a fake name when police questioned him about his 911 call. Authorities believe he has abandoned his Tennessee home, and say that he also has connections in Alabama, Montana, Alaska, Kentucky and Florida, WHAS 11 reported.
“The FBI is providing technical and investigative assistance to the state and local authorities. Since the matter is ongoing, there isn’t much that we can say specifically,” a spokesperson with the agency’s press office told Fox News Digital.
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In 2009, Hamlett was arrested in Niceville, Florida after he lured a man into the woods in Alabama, according to WBS.
Hamlett held the Alabama man at gunpoint and attempted to strike him with a baseball bat before burying him in the woods, AL.com reported. He used the name Joshua Jones when he reached out to that victim so “he could get some insurance,” according to court documents reviewed by the outlet.
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Hamlett was charged with attempted murder and kidnapping in 2012, but pleaded to the lesser offense of felony assault and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He had four prior felony convictions, according to Alabama court records.
Hamlett, who is wanted for first-degree murder in the unidentified man’s death, is said to be 5’7″ tall and weigh 170 pounds. He reportedly uses multiple aliases and may still be using Brandon Andrade’s name. He is considered “armed and dangerous,” police said.
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