Steven Gittens News Today

But i dont seem to have the guts to do it. maybe i can get the police to shoot me and then this will all be over. gittens doesnt get his wish that day. hes convicted of reckless conduct and sentenced to three years probation. gittens dies almost six years later. he was 56 years old. captain mcgann kept the handgun that he shot off the truck as a solemn reminder of that day. >> this is the handgun that mr. gittens had. its a small caliber, .380. the gun at the point i shot it was laying on the ca...

>> but the intense standoff ends with an incredible shot by one of their snipers. april 15th, 2004, atlanta, georgia. a man calls 911 and in a calm voice reports a dire situation. >> yes, theres a man with a gun in the save rite parking lot. >> okay, who has the gun? >> me. >> the man on the line is 51-year-old steven gittens. hes recently divorced and homeless, and now hes armed and dangerous. >> what are you planning on doing with the gun? >> hopefully im going to shoot me. >> he tells the 911...

That we would have to take a shot on the individual, depending on what he did. >> mcgann hopes he doesnt have to shoot gittens but is ready for whatever action hes ordered to take. >> about an hour and 35 minutes in to the negotiation, the chief asked if we could take a shot, how confident we felt about that. the spotter, sergeant toro turned to me and said the chief wants to know if youre 100. and i joked to sergeant toro, i said no, tell the chief im 110%. >> the gun is on the hood of the truc...

>> but the intense standoff ends with an incredible shot by one of their snipers. april 15th, 2004, atlanta, georgia. a man calls 911 and in a calm voice reports a dire situation. >> yes, theres a man with a gun in the save rite parking lot. >> okay, who has the gun? >> me. >> the man on the line is 51-year-old steven gittens. hes recently divorced and homeless, and now hes armed and dangerous. >> what are you planning on doing with the gun? >> hopefully im going to shoot me. >> he tells the 911...

>> mcgann hopes he doesnt have to shoot gittens but is ready for whatever action hes ordered to take. >> about an hour and 45 minutes into the negotiations, the chief asked if we could take a shot, how confident we felt about that. the spotter, sergeant toro turned to me and said the chief wants to know if youre 100%. and i joked to sergeant toro, i said no, tell the chief im 110%. >> the gun is on the hood of the truck, but gittens hovers within an arms reach. >> at that point, i received a com...

Of bystanders as well as a local news crew. the situation is tense. mark mcgann, a clayton county detective and s.w.a.t team member, responds to the 911 call along with several dozen other cops. >> i could see his face and my impression was that he was very calm, and thats not unusual for someone who has decided to commit suicide. often a state of calmness comes into play because they have made their decision. >> but if he wants to commit suicide, why does he stage such a spectacle in a public p...

Shot. to this day, its amazing because i wasnt wearing ear protection and even though i was looking through the scope, i never saw the gun go off the truck. i guess you focus so much on what youre doing that you block other things out. i immediately came off the gun and saw the s.w.a.t. team members that were moving towards him, and that i realized that the shot had been successful. >> just moments after police take gittens into custody, a local news crew captures mcganns reaction to his once in...

Standoff before anyone gets hurt. mcgann and the s.w.a.t. team snipers come up with a gold plan. >> apparently the man laid the gun down once and picked it up, again. the plan as the chief formulated it was to negotiator would talk the man into putting the gun down again, at that point we would try to take a shot on the weapon. >> if the plan fails, it could provoke gittens to shoot himself or fire at police. detective mcgann, armed with his mcmillan .308 caliber rifle braces himself on the back...

>> about an hour and 35 minutes in to the negotiation, the chief asked if we could take a shot, how confident we felt about that. the spotter, sergeant toro turned to me and said the chief wants to know if youre 100. and i joked to sergeant toro, i said no, tell the chief im 110%. >> the gun is on the hood of the truck, but gittens hovers within an arms reach. >> at that point, i received a communication from the s.w.a.t. team commander to take a shot. >> a perfect shot. mcgann shoots the gun ri...

Standoff before anyone gets hurt. mcgann and the s.w.a.t. team snipers come up with a gold plan. >> apparently the man laid the gun down once and picked it up, again. the plan as the chief formulated it was to negotiator would talk the man into putting the gun down again, at that point we would try to take a shot on the weapon. if >> the plan fails it could provoke gittens to shoot himself or fire at police. detective mcgann, armed with his mcmillan .308 caliber rifle braces himself on the back ...