Monday, May 7, 2012
The Etowah High School student was killed after a standoff with Cherokee County SWAT officers last week.
Music-loving, guitar-playing, honest and a modern-day hippie. Those were phrases used to describe 16-year-old Andrew Messina at his funeral Monday afternoon. “Andrew gave joy to everyone who knew him,” said Clay McDonnell, a classmate from High Meadows School in Roswell. “Andrew was a friend to many, and I believe now his pain is all gone.” McDonnell said he was upset and confused by Messina’s death last week after being shot by a Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office sniper during after an hour-long standoff at his Eagle Watch home in Towne Lake. Sheriff's deputies were called after Messina's mother said he loaded a gun and was pointing it at himself and his mother. Messina will be remembered for who he was, not how his life ended, McDonnell …
The parents of the 16-year-old killed in a SWAT standoff are questioning the actions of sheriff's officers.
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Monday, May 7, 2012
The funeral for Andrew Messina, the 16-year-old killed by a SWAT sniper during a standoff last week, will be today at 4 p.m. at Hillside United Methodist Church. Meanwhile, the Etowah High sophomore's parents are questioning the actions of the Cherokee County sheriff's officers after mother Lisa Messina called Tuesday evening about Andrew's brandishing of a .357 Magnum handgun inside their Eagle Watch house. “The threat was to kill himself and no one else,” father Nicholas Messina told WSB-TV before Sunday's visitation at Woodstock Funeral Home. Lisa Messina said she never felt her life was in danger. “If this is the best they can do, then they need a lot of improvement,” she said of sheriff's officers. Capt. Joe Satterfield, who commands …
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Friday, May 4, 2012
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 …
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
This is the 911 recording from Lisa Messina, the mom of the 16-year-old boy who was shot by the Cherokee SWAT team Tuesday evening. Be advised that this material is mature and contains adult language.
Andrew Messina's mom called Cherokee 911 when her son threaten to kill them both in their Eagle Watch home in Towne Lake. Lisa describes her son's medications, past counseling, how he obtained the gun she believed to be locked in their home, what she said triggered his actions and how he threatened to kill them both to the 911 operator. Listen to the recordings divided into four segments above. For details about how the Etowah High School student was killed, check here: To watch a video interview from Cherokee Sheriff Roger Garrison as he explains how the incident occured, check here:
"Our worst fear is this young man gets free in that neighborhood with a loaded .357 magnum," said Sheriff Roger Garrison of the 16 year old who was killed after holding his mother hostage in Towne Lake.
The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office is grieving. "We are all grieving today," Sheriff Roger Garrison said. "This is the most tragic thing I think that has happened in my tenure, possibly my career," he said. Garrison recounts the events that took place in the Eagle Watch subdivision that lead to the death of 16-year-old Andrew Messina Tuesday evening, the day of the sheriff’s birthday, a day he said he wishes he could forget now. He begins with the Etowah High School student’s mom calling Cherokee 911 dispatchers at 5:50 p.m. describing her son as out of control holding her against her will with a loaded .357 magnum revolver in their home. Her husband, Messina's father, was not home at this time. Once deputies arrived on scene and were …
The 16-year-old Etowah High School student, Andrew Messina, held his mother hostage in their Woodstock-area house, authorities say.
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Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Updated: 9:15 a.m. A 16-year-old boy was killed Tuesday evening in the Eagle Watch subdivision during a standoff with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office SWAT team. A sheriff's sniper fired a single, fatal shot after the teen made a threatening move toward deputies, WSB-TV reported. "He made a very aggressive move toward the officers that were attempting to negotiate with him," Sheriff Roger Garrison said in an interview aired on WSB. Classmates from Etowah High School and neighbors in the Towne Lake subdivision were quick to identify the suspect as Andrew Messina on Twitter and send out uplifting messages to his friends and family. Baily Brim tweeted, "Pray for Andrew Messina & his family tonight. Pronounced dead after being shot. …
James S. Moore
1:00 pm on Friday, November 2, 2012
Again, the gun in his hand is not the one that shot him. Also he was not "given" the gun as some would like to have you think. Per the mothers answers to the 911 operator, the gun and the bullets were stored separately and she wasn't completely sure how he obtained them. In their mishandling of the situation, the Sheriffs dept. escalated the situation to a point that was out of control and by … more ›