AJC-Iraq Vet In GA Shoots Neighbors & Kills Himself

Police and SWAT Team in Gwinnett County, GA: AJC and WSB-TV

(Story reported by Kristi E. Swartz and Larry Harstein for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

The man who shot two of his neighbors then killed himself in Gwinnett County Wednesday was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, family members told police.

Gwinnett police identified the man as 27-year-old Dennis Dugger.

Dugger apparently was upset that the couple living upstairs from him at the Indian Trail Apartments near Norcross were making too much noise, police said.

"The suspect fired several rounds into the ceiling of his apartment leading into the victims' apartment," said

Cpl. Edwin Ritter, a police spokesman. "The suspect then fired several rounds into the victims' front door, forced entry and fired several more rounds through the bathroom door, where the victims barricaded themselves."

Keyla Rubio, 19, and her boyfriend, Brian J. Sarachini, 20, were taken to Gwinnett Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. They were expected to be released soon.

The Gwinnett SWAT team was called out to the apartment compex, in the 900 block of Indian Trail Road in Norcross, about 6 p.m. Police evacuated several buildings because investigators had reason to believe the suspect had returned to his apartment and was armed.

About four hours into the standoff, officers used a robot with an attached camera to force entry into Dugger's apartment. He was found dead.

(click here to read the full story on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website. Below is WSB-TV video of the tragic news story)