GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A man wanted in a New York murder was shot Thursday near a Gwinnett County elementary school after a five-hour manhunt that sent middle schoolers to a church, sheriff’s officials say.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Kean Wiggins, 35, is under arrest and being treated for injuries, according to the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office and police in Troy, New York, where he is wanted in a May murder.

U.S. Marshals and Gwinnett County sheriff’s deputies went to a home in the 1900 block of Binnies Way near Buford around 6:15 a.m.

Gwinnett County police say Wiggins fired at least one shot at officers. Sheriff’s officials say he then slipped into the woods.

TRENDING STORIES:

Around 11:30 a.m., officers found him near Freeman’s Mill Elementary School. The sheriff’s office says he fired again and was hit.

No officers, deputies or residents were reported hurt.

“This is a real shock because nothing happens over here,” neighbor Frederica Roberson said. ”It’s so quiet.”

Gwinnett County Sheriff Keybo Taylor praised his deputies.

“We’re expected to run to the danger,” Taylor said. “We’re expected to go to these situations and not away from them. These deputies were actively being fired at, but they did their jobs.”

A woman at the Binnies Way home was taken into custody and charged with harboring a fugitive, police said.

Neighbors woke to dozens of officers, drones and a police dog.

“It’s not safe,” Kortne Ellis said officers told him. “They’re looking for somebody as of right now and to go back in the house and lock the doors.”

Twin Rivers Middle School moved students to a church for pickup before the suspect was taken into custody.

“I think it’s very ironic that it just happened to be right where I was working today, and I was able to rescue my son from the church. But I’m glad they got him,” parent Jake Major said.

Freeman’s Mill Elementary students were still inside the school hours after the shooting.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the officer and deputy shootings near Freeman’s Mill Elementary School, and Gwinnett County police are handling the shot fired at a deputy that morning near the home.

The Rensselaer County District Attorney’s Office in New York will oversee extradition proceedings when Wiggins is ready to be returned, according to Troy police.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

©2026 Cox Media Group