SWAT Team Negotiates With Atlanta Father of 4, Now In Custody

ATLANTA, GA — According to police, a man who shut himself inside his home after a domestic dispute in northwest Atlanta for hours has been arrested, reports CBS46. He had a baseball bat and initially struck his children with it who later escaped and ran to a neighbor's house. The incident occurred on the 200 block of Griffin Street.

After several hours the suspect identified as James Tidwell was taken into custody around 11:45 a.m. Tidwell and a seven-year-old daughter inside were both uninjured.

Several Atlanta Police units were on the scene first, followed by a SWAT team, who negotiated with Tidwell to release the fourth child and come out.

When officers arrived on the scene around 6:30 a.m., three of the four children had ran to a neighbor's home saying their father was inside with the bat and maybe a handgun. The children were taken to a local hospital with lacerations to the head but were said to be okay.

Hollis Innovation Academy was on a soft lockdown, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“Because Griffin Street is blocked, students are entering from the James P. Brawley side of the building,” Atlanta Public Schools spokesman Ian Smith told Channel 2 in a statement, says the AJC. “The school will be on a soft lockdown until the incident clears.”

Tidwell was described by a family friend as an "attentive, single father" who had recently lost his job and was financially stressed. Police said Tindwell faces several charges.