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Update: Dramatic Hostage Situation In Athens
by John Madewell
A dramatic hostage stand-off unfolded early this morning at an Athens, Tenn. Kangaroo convenience store at 703 South White St.
This hostage incident took a number of unusual turns.
when hostage taker, 39-year-old Jason Gossett, held the clerk and a customer at gunpoint, he kept telling them how bad his life was.
Gossett repeatedly told them it was not a robbery, but that he wanted to die.
In this case, no one did.
Athens police said the masked man waited outside for clerk Michael Parris.
Once the clerk came out, Gossett forced him back inside.
Then, customer Catherine Scott walked in to see Gossett with a rifle pointed at the clerk. He ordered her to sit down.
Gossett didn't like where her truck was parked.
All three walked outside and he told her to move it.
When she did, she called 9-11.
Multiple officers responded.
When they arrived, they thought they were dealing with an AR-15.
It turns out it was an air soft, or pellet gun, that looked very similar to an assault rifle.
The pistol Gossett had was also an air soft gun.
At the time, police did not know that.
Athens Police Captain Frank Horning said, "When you see a weapon that looks real, you don't look at it as being a plastic gun today. You look at it as being a real weapon and you do your maneuvers as you're trained to do."
One of the surveillance pictures clearly shows Gossett using the clerk and customer as a human shield between himself and all the officers.
At one point, a responding officer said the customer got about three to four feet away from Gossett.
The officer took a shot but it didn't penetrate the glass.
Next, Gossett stepped back to the middle of the store and pulled out a knife. According to the incident report, he handed it to the customer and ordered her to cut his wrist.
He holds her at gunpoint and orders her to cut his wrist three times.
All along, Gossett is saying this is not a robbery, I just want to die.
He kept talking about how bad his life was. Captain Horning reflected on the position the customer was put into, "To cut somebody's wrists when you're having a gun held to your head, I guess you do things that you're instructed to do."
The customer did as instructed, cutting Gossett three times.
He bled profusely and dropped the gun.
That's when the clerk beat him up and police rushed in.
Gossett was treated at a local hospital and released to Athens Police custody.
He's in the McMinn County jail charged with two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping.The reason: he held the clerk and customer as human shields.
Update: Dramatic Hostage Situation In Athens
by John Madewell
A dramatic hostage stand-off unfolded early this morning at an Athens, Tenn. Kangaroo convenience store at 703 South White St.
This hostage incident took a number of unusual turns.
when hostage taker, 39-year-old Jason Gossett, held the clerk and a customer at gunpoint, he kept telling them how bad his life was.
Gossett repeatedly told them it was not a robbery, but that he wanted to die.
In this case, no one did.
Athens police said the masked man waited outside for clerk Michael Parris.
Once the clerk came out, Gossett forced him back inside.
Then, customer Catherine Scott walked in to see Gossett with a rifle pointed at the clerk. He ordered her to sit down.
Gossett didn't like where her truck was parked.
All three walked outside and he told her to move it.
When she did, she called 9-11.
Multiple officers responded.
When they arrived, they thought they were dealing with an AR-15.
It turns out it was an air soft, or pellet gun, that looked very similar to an assault rifle.
The pistol Gossett had was also an air soft gun.
At the time, police did not know that.
Athens Police Captain Frank Horning said, "When you see a weapon that looks real, you don't look at it as being a plastic gun today. You look at it as being a real weapon and you do your maneuvers as you're trained to do."
One of the surveillance pictures clearly shows Gossett using the clerk and customer as a human shield between himself and all the officers.
At one point, a responding officer said the customer got about three to four feet away from Gossett.
The officer took a shot but it didn't penetrate the glass.
Next, Gossett stepped back to the middle of the store and pulled out a knife. According to the incident report, he handed it to the customer and ordered her to cut his wrist.
He holds her at gunpoint and orders her to cut his wrist three times.
All along, Gossett is saying this is not a robbery, I just want to die.
He kept talking about how bad his life was. Captain Horning reflected on the position the customer was put into, "To cut somebody's wrists when you're having a gun held to your head, I guess you do things that you're instructed to do."
The customer did as instructed, cutting Gossett three times.
He bled profusely and dropped the gun.
That's when the clerk beat him up and police rushed in.
Gossett was treated at a local hospital and released to Athens Police custody.
He's in the McMinn County jail charged with two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping.The reason: he held the clerk and customer as human shields.
