Atlanta SWAT breaches building to make arrest

Atlanta police officers saw a wanted man Wednesday night and called in a heavily armed SWAT team to breach a building to make the arrest.

Clifford Kirkland, 22, had an outstanding warrant for aggravated assault, but no more details were available, Sgt. Warren Pickard said.

Two patrol officers saw Kirkland at 8:30 p.m., realized he had been wanted since July and followed him to an apartment building at 350 Lanier Street, but he refused to answer the door, Pickard said.

The police called the SWAT team, which used flash-bang grenades to force its way into the northwest Atlanta apartment to make the arrest, Pickard said.

It is unclear whether Kirkland was armed at the time of the raid.

"At this time, no weapons have been found," Pickard said.

Tammy Kirkland, who described herself as the man's mother, said police had been too heavy-handed with her son.

"They've been harassing him all day long," she said.

--Photographer Ben Gray contributed to this article.