ROSWELL, Ga. – A tense situation unfolded in Roswell when an attempt to serve an arrest warrant turned deadly, leaving one man dead and a SWAT officer injured. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is now looking into the incident.
It all happened on the afternoon of January 17 on Ansley Drive. Officers from the Roswell Police Department, along with the North Fulton SWAT team, were trying to serve search and arrest warrants at a home. The man they were after, 40-year-old Matthew Robert Taylor of Roswell, had a history with the police and was facing charges from an earlier incident on December 31, 2024.
Taylor had been accused of firing a gun into the air after being asked to leave a New Year’s Eve party just down the road from his home. The charges against him included reckless conduct, discharging a firearm on someone else’s property, and possessing a gun as a convicted felon.
According to Roswell Police Chief James Conroy, things quickly escalated when officers arrived at the house. Five people were inside at the time. One of them ran out the back door, where they encountered a SWAT officer. Shots were fired.
Chief Conroy explained that Taylor fired twice, hitting the SWAT officer in the chest. Thankfully, the officer’s protective gear saved him. The officer fired back, hitting Taylor, who died at the scene. His body has been taken to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy.
Al Warren, a construction worker inside the house during the incident, described the chaos. He said Taylor initially came out, went back inside, and then reappeared, opening fire on the police. “It was like a movie you don’t want to see again,” Warren recalled.
As for the injured SWAT officer, their name hasn’t been released yet. The GBI is now reviewing the use of force in the case, and the final report will go to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office.
Taylor’s troubled past seems to explain the heavy police presence. Chief Conroy said they called in the SWAT team because of his violent history. Over the years, Taylor had been arrested 17 times, facing charges like aggravated assault, battery, theft, and drug-related offenses. Records from the Georgia Department of Corrections show incidents in Gwinnett, Fulton, and Clayton counties.
The December 31 incident that led to Taylor’s arrest warrant began when he showed up uninvited to a New Year’s Eve party. Austin Sheffield and Will Haygood, who were hosting the gathering, said Taylor approached them in their garage, asking if there was a party. When they asked him to leave, he stepped outside and started firing his gun into the air. “He said he was going to shoot up our trucks,” Sheffield shared, adding that the encounter left them shaken.
This tragic event marks another chapter in a long history of violence for Taylor, while also serving as a stark reminder of the dangers faced by law enforcement officers on duty. The investigation is ongoing, and more details are expected as the GBI continues its review.
