Ball Ground Man Charged Following SWAT Standoff In Cherokee

BALL GROUND, GA — A Ball Ground man was arrested overnight following a five-hour standoff with the Cherokee SWAT team after allegedly pointing a weapon at a female relative Sunday evening.

Jamie Earl Johns, 40, has been charged with aggravated assault under the Family Violence Act in connection to an incident, which snowballed into the standoff that extended well past midnight.

Deputies with the Cherokee Sheriff's Office were dispatched around 7:18 p.m. July 30 to an unknown trouble call at a home on Conns Creek Road. They arrived and met with the victim, who said she and Johns were engaged in a verbal dispute that "resulti[ed] in him pointing a weapon at her," the agency said.

The woman told deputies there wasn't anyone else inside the home, and as deputies tried to make contact with Johns, he peered out the window and retreated back into the residence.

"A short time later a gun shot was heard from the interior of the home," the agency added.

The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team and Hostage Negotiation Team were requested to respond to the residence, and while awaiting the arrival of those teams, Johns could be seen and heard moving around inside the house. After speaking with negotiators, Johns eventually exited the home around 1:30 a.m. and was taken into custody.

He was transported to the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center where he is being held without bond.

Photo: Jamie Earl Johns. Credit: Cherokee Sheriff's Office