Midtown Four Seasons Hotel 911 tapes released
ATLANTA - The Atlanta Police Department has released two recordings of 911 calls made ahead of the SWAT situation that unfolded at the Midtown Four Seasons Hotel Tuesday afternoon.
In the first call, the Four Seasons resident manager told the 911 operator that a resident living in the condominiums above the hotel pointed a gun at him while he reported to the 33rd floor to address another guest's complaint.
"A neighbor said there was a mess in the hallway. I went out to check the mess and the resident was pointing a gun at me, screaming, ‘Do not come this way. I don’t want to hurt anybody,'" the manager said. "And he's known for mental episodes, and I just need you here pronto."
911 Tapes: Four Seasons resident manager says suspect pointed gun at him
Atlanta police have released recordings of the 911 calls made before the SWAT situation unfolded at the Midtown Four Seasons Hotel. In this call, the resident manager told the operator that Dr. Jay Bergen pointed a gun at him while responding to another resident's complaint. He went on to say that Bergen, the suspect, was known to carry many weapons and Nazi paraphernalia.
Police said this was the beginning of an hours-long stand-off between police and the resident, 70-year-old Dr. Jay Steven Berger.
"He is known to have firearms and weapons in his unit, along with lots of Nazi paraphernalia," the manager continued.
The employee went on to say that his team had tried to "facilitate a suicide prevention intervention a couple of times and have not been successful," and asked for an ambulance to be sent.
911 Tapes: Four Seasons employees call back
Atlanta police have released recordings of the 911 calls made before the SWAT situation unfolded at the Midtown Four Seasons Hotel. In this call, an employee calls 911 again after no one responded to the scene. It's not clear how much time passed between the first call and the second.
It's not clear how much time lapsed between the first 911 call and the second, but another employee called emergency services on Tuesday asking to be updated on when someone would respond to the scene.
The 911 operator who took that call said she could not give out that information.
What happened at the Midtown Four Seasons Hotel?
On Oct. 29, 2024, Atlanta police reported a man later identified as Jay Steven Berger had been involved in an altercation with a hotel employee and would not respond to law enforcement.
During negotiations, police said Berger started firing from inside his condo into the hallway, through the walls and doorway.
Gunshots could be heard outside the building.
"We looked up like five seconds and hear ‘doom, doom, doom,’ start shooting again so we ducked behind here," said Jordan Hall who was outside.
"We believe at this time at least three different weapons were fired," said Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum.
Three floors of the hotel were evacuated. Roads were shut down. People were told to shelter-in-place.
Berger could be seen tossing items, including at least one gun, off the balcony of the 33rd floor.
"You could see a person throwing objects off the balcony – tables, chairs lamps," said Leah who works in Midtown.
It finally came to an end when a SWAT sniper shot Berger, and he was taken into custody.
"The officers worked very methodically to prevent any further threats and to take this individual into custody," Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum.
Wednesday night, Berger was still in the hospital. When he's released, he'll be taken to the Fulton County Jail where he's expected to face multiple charges, including aggravated assault and reckless endangerment.
During the incident, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said a SWAT officer, later identified as Jonathan Caporaso, was injured and hospitalized, possibly by shrapnel.
He has since been released and is recovering.
At least two other officers exchanged gunfire with Bergen, but no one else was reported injured.