A local man remains in jail at midday and will likely be in custody for some time after police reported he threatened family members with a shotgun overnight, and ultimately gave up after an hours-long standoff with officers early this morning.

Joel Dale Sisson, 38, of a Cedartown address, was charged with felonies for three counts of aggravated battery, possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of a crime, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and obstruction charges after he barricaded himself inside a home on Forest Lane in the Rolling Hills subdivision overnight.

Police were called out to the home around 1:30 a.m., according to Polk County Police Chief Kenny Dodd. He said that Sisson was reported to have pulled out a shotgun and threatened to kill three of his relatives. One person was able to flee via the front door, but the other two relatives were pulled to safety via a window by Cedartown Police, who were on the scene to help.

Additionally, the Polk County Sheriffs Office also had deputies providing aid on the scene, and after the three relatives escaped, Sisson refused to come out and give up to officers.

“He was threatening to kill law enforcement and said he wouldn’t go back to prison,” Dodd said.

Sisson was on parole for previous convictions for domestic violence, Dodd added.

Polk County and Cedartown Police officers secured the scene with the help of Sheriff’s deputies before the Floyd County SWAT team was notified due to Sisson’s threats against officers and previous threats against family members.

Dodd said that after SWAT team members arrived around 3 a.m., they began to try to negotiate with Sisson to turn himself in without further incident. After an hour, the team decided to use CS Gas – one of the variants of tear gas – to get Sisson out of the house without further violence.

He came out without further incident, and fortunately no one was injured during the standoff.

“We would like to thank the floyd county swat team, Cedartown PD and Polk County sheriffs office for their assistance during the overnight incident,” Dodd said. “Their work on the scene was instrumental in helping resolve this peacefully.”