SWAT officer injured in Midtown hotel shooting identified

ATLANTA - Atlanta police have identified the SWAT officer wounded in a standoff with an armed suspect who was barricaded inside Midtown Atlanta's Four Season hotel.

Officials say S.W.A.T. Officer Jonathan Caporaso was injured while responding to the scene on 14th Street on Tuesday morning.

Caporaso was treated at Grady Memorial Hospital and has since been released. He is now recovering at home. He had been with the SWAT team since graduating from SWAT School in 2020.

The incident began around 10 a.m. when officers responded to reports of a mental health emergency at the hotel. 

S.W.A.T. Officer Jonathan Caporaso (Atlanta Police Department)

The caller reported that a man, now identified as 70-year-old Jay Steven Berger, had been involved in an altercation with a hotel employee. Berger was a resident of the residential section of the hotel.

When officers attempted to get Berger to peacefully surrender, Atlanta Chief of Police Darin Schierbaum said he began firing shots. Investigators said the man fired at least three different types of guns and may have been armed with more weapons, including knives. 

Law enforcement quickly shut down the surrounding streets and ordered a shelter-in-place advisory as they attempted to end the situation.

Hours after the situation began, a SWAT sniper was able to shoot Berger when he came out to his apartment's balcony and began throwing items onto the street below. Officers then breached the apartment and arrested him.

Authorities say Caporaso was the only officer injured in the incident. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation believes he may have been hit by shrapnel. 

Berger is receiving treatment at a local hospital and will be taken to the Fulton County Jail once released. Multiple charges are expected to be filed against him, including aggravated assault and reckless endangerment.

The GBI is doing an independent investigation into the shooting.