Hostages Safe After Five-Hour Decatur Motel Standoff

DECATUR GA -- DeKalb County SWAT teams rescued 12 hostages -- one of them a three-month-old baby -- after a man held them captive in an unincorporated Decatur motel room for more than five hours.

The suspect, 36-year-old Kurrie Thomas, stabbed himself in the neck before being taken into custody by police, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.

The standoff began around 3 am at the Rite 4 Us Inn and Suites on Snapfinger Woods Drive, when police responded to a domestic dispute call. Police told the AJC and Channel 2 Action News that Thomas, armed with a knife, refused to come out of the hotel room or release the woman or 11 children he was holding.

That began a standoff that lasted until DeKalb SWAT teams eventually entered the room when someone inside opened the door. Thomas then stabbed himself in the neck.

He was taken to a local hospital and is reported to be in critical condition.

The hotel was evacuated and the standoff, which took place around the I-20 and Wesley Chapel Road interchanged, caused several traffic backups in the area.