Just sent from the City Schools of Decatur in an email blast to the community…

As the AJC reported today, there was a police incident on South Candler Road this morning. Winnona Park received a few calls asking if they were in lockdown status at all. They were not placed on lockdown.

Winnona Park Principal Gregory Wiseman saw the police barricade at the intersection of South Candler and East Davis on his way to school this morning. He immediately pulled to the side, identified himself as the Principal of Winnona Park, and asked if there was a situation he need to know about for the safety of his students. The Decatur Police office said that there was not.

As Mr. Wiseman got to school minutes later, he called the School Resource Officer. The officer was on his way to the South Candler scene. When he arrived, he assessed the situation with his superiors and contacted Mr. Wiseman to inform him that there was no need for the school to be placed on lockdown.

After voting Tuesday to adopt last year’s voter referendum for a considerably weaker CEO, the DeKalb Commission is already looking to scrap it.  According to an article in today’s AJC, a majority of DeKalb Commissioners are in favor of doing away with the CEO entirely and hiring a city manager to run day-to-day operations.

CEO Burrell Ellis, who favored the weakened CEO referendum last fall – even though he was running for job – doesn’t sound all that enthused on this latest development.  Ellis suggests that the commission may just be using this idea in order to gain leverage in a recent budget dispute.

I’m not sure I can come down definitively on either side of this particular issue.  I do believe that Ellis has made significant inroads to repair many of the charred bridges left by his predecessor.  On the other hand, with a city manager-style government, I might actually stand a chance of understanding the way decisions are made at the County level.

Right now I’m pretty sure the way it works is they all flip a coin, the North and South DeKalb contingents argue over whether it’s heads or tails, and then the CEO vetoes it. 

Kidding…love ya politics.  Love ya.

From the Oakhurst Message Board…

There is a house fire on Mead between Leydon and the Village. No telling how long the street will be blocked completely, but if you’re out & about you might consider alternative routes. The fire appears to be under control already, but there was lots of smoke for a while. From our vantage point, it doesn’t appear anyone was home.

- Mark Reeve

319 Mead

UPDATE IV: Chief Booker forwarded DPD’s official release on this morning’s incident…

On today’s date, November 19, 2009, at approximately 6:45am. the Decatur Police Department received a trouble unknown call at 621 South Candler Street. Upon the officer’s arrival, it was determined that an armed subject had barricaded himself in the residence. DeKalb County SWAT was notified of the incident and responded to assist. The subject was eventually taken into custody without incident. The subject is under investigation for an incident that occurred in Athens, Georgia. Please contact Athens-Clarke County Police for additional information.

UPDATE III: Sounds like it’s over.  The AJC now reports…

At 10:25 a.m., police began leaving the scene.

UPDATE II: WriterChad is tweeting from the scene.

UPDATE: The AJC is now reporting this…

Robin Blocker, who lives nearby, said a man was taken from the residence in handcuffs, but at 10 a.m. police had not confirmed whether the standoff is over. Blocker said police told her the standoff was related to a homicide in Athens.

…A police officer later came to the door, Abuato said, and told her that there was a report that a man inside the house had killed his family in Athens and fled to the Candler Street house, where his mother lives, and was inside with a knife. Abuato said the mother rents out rooms in the home to college students.

Lots of emails this morning inquiring to the police situation on South Candler near Kirk Road and Green.  Multiple residents have said that police at the scene are refusing to respond to resident inquiries.

Emily provides a link to an AJC article that says that DeKalb SWAT officers have been called to the scene, but doesn’t give much other info.

Feel free to comment with your own reports.

I’ll contact Decatur PD and try to get more info.  Stay tuned.