FOLKSTON, Ga. — Sounds of gunfire started an hours-long standoff Wednesday night in Folkston, Georgia.
A news release from the Folkston Police Department issued on Thursday said that it responded to 3781 Main Street after getting a report that shots had been fired.
The caller said he was going to “blow this location up” and claimed to have several bombs. Law enforcement was also told that two people were being held hostage and that one person had been shot.
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Video from a live stream showed police arriving at the scene on Main Street near the Circle K gas station around 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday.
“The GBI had not gotten here yet, but it was state and local police department. They had guns drawn,” said a local woman who declined to be identified.
She said it was “controlled chaos” as the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI ) arrived.
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The standoff was centered around a two-story building, which the neighbor describes as a historic former hotel with occupants on the second story.
Then the situation got dark. Officials told us on Thursday morning that they cut the power in the area, a routine procedure in investigations like this. The outage affected 290 customers.
“Then we heard a woman on a microphone saying to the occupants, ‘This is your final warning: put your hands on your head and come out,’” she went on to describe.
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Folkson police got a search warrant, but when officers went inside, they found no suspects, victims or hostages. Officers said there is no immediate threat to the community.
“It’s the wrong town to be a suspected shooter in. We practice shooting around here regularly,” said Folkston resident Zachary Powell. “It’s a terrible situation if you ask me, but I think they took care of it. Best way they could’ve.”
However, neighbors were frustrated about the delay in finding out what happened. “We don’t like violence, but being kept in the dark is troubling, literally.”
The investigation is ongoing.
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