GBI investigating fatal standoff

WALTON COUNTY, Ga. — GBI agents are investigating a 13-hour standoff  that left a murder suspect dead inside a Loganville home.

The incident happened at Granite Lane off Lee Byrd Road near the Gwinnett County line.

Police said the hostile ordeal that ended at about 9 a.m. Saturday prompted police to enter the home with an armored vehicle.

Vincent Ferri, 41, barricaded himself in the home at about 6:30 p.m. Friday when police tried to serve him a warrant for a North Carolina murder.

Channel 2 Action News was there overnight when police tried to lure Ferri out with text messages, then tear gas. An exchange of gunfire occurred at about 3 a.m.

At some point, police entered the home with an armored vehicle.

"We tried to punch through so we could look through with the cameras, which are mounted to robots," Loganville Police Chief Mike McHugh said.

Inside, they found Ferri on the bathroom floor. Investigators are still trying to determine if Ferri died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound or a wound from an officer returning fire. But they do know he was heavily armed with several assault rifles and at least one handgun. Police said the assault rifles they found were equipped with high volume magazines, which hold in excess of 50 round between 50 and 100 rounds.

"I heard shots and it was a bunch of shots," neighbor Kevin Moran told Channel 2's Sophia Choi. "It was like 'boom, boom, boom, boom!"

Neighbors said the suspect has two daughters – an 8-year-old and a teenager.

Neighbors were evacuated Friday night for their safety.

WSBTV