GAINESVILLE, Georgia – A domestic disturbance call in Gainesville escalated into an hours-long standoff and multiple exchanges of gunfire, leaving one suspect dead and an officer injured but alive.
On Thursday, March 19, 2026, at approximately 10:30 p.m., Gainesville Police officers were in the area of Skyline Drive and Briarwood Drive in the Sunset Heights neighborhood when they responded to a 911 call from a woman who said she feared for her life.
The caller reported that a man, later identified as 24-year-old Dakota Levi Simmons, was experiencing a mental health crisis, was armed, and had threatened her. While officers were responding, Simmons left the residence…