Cobb County

Grandmother died trying to save family during hostage situation, relative says

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A mother and child are safe and two other people are dead after a hostage situation in a Cobb County neighborhood Tuesday afternoon.

Officers and a SWAT team were called to a home off Lane Drive near Mableton Parkway.

Investigators say an elderly woman was shot in the home. When police arrived, they pulled the woman from the home and found that she was already dead.

Police say a young mother, Jessica Adams, and her daughter, Hannah, were still in the home with an armed man.

The elderly woman has been identified as Faye Spruell.

Debbie Rogers, a relative of Spruell told Channel 2's Nefertiti Jaquez she can't understand why this happened.

"Faye didn’t deserve this. She would have given the shirt off her back. She was a loving person," she said.

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Rogers said the Adams and her daughter were living with the armed man, who has been identified as James "Cody" Martin.

The SWAT team saw an opportunity and went in to rescue the woman and child, Cobb County police Chief Mike Register said.

When they were inside the home, Register said the team was confronted by Martin. They shot and killed him.

From NewsChopper 2 on Channel 2 Action News at 5 p.m., we could see the entire home blocked off by crime scene tape.

A source told Channel 2's Cobb County Bureau Chief Chris Jose that the man was believed to be a boyfriend or husband.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation will be handling the investigation, Register said.