Captain: Negotiators Did Everything to Save Messina

The Cherokee County SWAT sniper didn't want to kill the 16-year-old, Capt. Joe Satterfield says, but "we can't control a suspect's actions."

Capt. Joe Satterfield had hoped to get through his whole career without having someone shot, let alone killed. But that hope ended Tuesday night when a sniper on Satterfield’s SWAT team fatally shot 16-year-old Andrew Messina after the boy stuck a .357 Magnum through the front-door glass at negotiators. “We can’t control a suspect’s actions,” said Satterfield, who heads the Cherokee County SWAT team. “We can only react to situations.” In a 911 call, Messina’s mother said her son was on Zoloft and another medication for his ADHD. The Etowah High School sophomore also reportedly had pointed the gun at his mother. He can be heard screaming and using profanity inside the house in the Eagle Watch subdivision while his mother stood on the back …

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