He’d already beaten her with closed fists in the face and body and on her head with the end of a shotgun, so badly that she was in Piedmont Fayette receiving treatment. A mandated reporter, a nurse, called the police to report the beating on the evening of March 1. By the time the officers arrived to check on her, he was still torturing her, but this time mentally, by telling her through a family member’s text messages that he’d killed their children.

That’s why Peachtree City Police headed to the residence of Godfrey Forbes, 39, on Ridgeview Ct. to check on the kids and arrest this husband at about 6:30 p.m. By the time they arrived, Forbes had barricaded himself in the home. According to Lt. Chris Hyatt, Public Information Officer with the Peachtree City Police Department, they activated their SRT, or Special Response Team. That’s Peachtree City’s answer to what others call SWAT.

The PTCPD news release states, “Preliminary investigations corroborated evidence of aggravated assault against the victim and suggested that Mr. Forbes would likely not cooperate with officers. Arrest warrants were obtained for Mr. Forbes.​

“Given the severity of the incident, the potential presence of children, and the high risk of a violent response, the department’s Special Response Team (SRT) was immediately activated to serve the arrest warrants.​”

The SRT has trained Crisis Negotiators who were called in to reach Forbes, and also try to reach his children. According to Lt. Hyatt it took some time for the team to figure out that the kids were all alive.

The press release from the PTCPD states, “Mr. Forbes refused to cooperate with Peachtree City negotiators, declining to exit his residence or release the children peacefully. He had also heavily barricaded himself inside to prevent entry.​”

Lt. Hyatt explained that there were locks engaged and furniture up against all the doors. As officers breached various parts of the house, Forbes had taken himself and the three children into a back bedroom.

This wasn’t the first or even second time this week that police had been called to the home for a domestic disturbance. Various people had called, perhaps neighbors, perhaps one of the three children who are all under the age of thirteen. Forbes had made comments to police during those previous domestic violence calls to state that he had weapons.

On that evening of March 1, “The operators on the team were eventually able to hear communications in an upstairs part of the unit that verified that children were alive and present on scene. Negotiators were eventually able to confirm this as well. He went dark on communication for a while and we just began trying to communicate with the children, trying to get them to come out on their own,” said Hyatt. He continued, “It became clear that he was kind of manipulating the children into what to say and what they shouldn’t.

“Several hours into it, we were eventually able to eliminate access to all parts of the residence except for the one bedroom that he was located with the children barricaded. And eventually when he was explained the options, and given a last chance to come out before the team forced entry, he did surrender to our special response team inside the residence and was taken into custody. Once he was done, we were able to find the children in the room that he had barricaded himself. It was the three children and a bed full of loaded firearms that he had set up.”

Hyatt indicated that there were multiple loaded shotguns and pistols on the bed.

According to the release, “After several hours, SRT members successfully apprehended Mr. Forbes within his residence. He was found in an upstairs bedroom with multiple loaded firearms, along with the children. No injuries were sustained by any occupants during the operation, and the children were safely entrusted to family members. Mr. Forbes was transported to the Fayette County Jail and charged with multiple offenses related to the domestic violence incident and the subsequent standoff.”

Lt. Hyatt agreed that it was miraculous that the three children were rescued from this situation without any shots fired from either side at around 1 a.m. on March 2. Their grandmother, who had been with their mom at the hospital, took custody of the children.

The PTCPD stated: Godfrey Forbes, 39, of Peachtree City, GA, was arrested on March 2, 2025, and charged with the following:

• BATTERY – FAMILY VIOLENCE (MISD)

• AGGRAVATED ASSAULT – FAMILY VIOLENCE (FEL)

• OBSTRUCTION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS (MISD)

• POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA LESS THAN ONE OUNCE (MISD)

• POSSESSION OF FIREARM DURING COMMISSION OF FELONY (FEL)

• TERRORISTIC THREATS (FEL)

• 3 Counts of FALSE IMPRISONMENT (FEL)

• 3 Counts of CRUELTY TO CHILDREN IN 3RD DEGREE

Lt. Hyatt concluded, “There are times where situations require specialized equipment training and personnel to handle. That’s why we’ve so proud of the team and we have the Special Response Team that are committed to maintaining the training requirements and the efficiency of working together to bring about situations like this with such a positive resolution. These are tense, rapidly evolving and they require a lot of education, training and preparedness to be able to handle these situations.”