Metro Atlanta
Metro Atlanta

Police capture Athens man with gun in ‘altered mental state’

Benjamin Sittig (Credit: Athens-Clarke County Police Department)
Benjamin Sittig (Credit: Athens-Clarke County Police Department)
By Ellen Eldridge
Nov 27, 2016

Athens-Clarke County police captured a man they believed to be armed with a handgun and having a mental health crisis Sunday.

Benjamin Sittig was near Darlington Station Road in west Athens Sunday morning and police said they arrested him without incident about 3 p.m.

Police asked neighbors in the area to stay indoors while they hunted Sittig.

MORE: How Atlanta police handle calls involving the mentally ill

About the Author

Ellen Eldridge
More Stories

Keep Reading

The deadly shooting happened at the West Ridge Shopping Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive near Lynhurst Drive, police said. (Ben Hendren for the AJC)

Credit: Ben Hendren

Teen, 17, fatally shot while shopping at SW Atlanta complex, police say

A 17-year-old was gunned down Saturday while shopping at a southwest Atlanta complex, police said.

Hiram officer loses home to fire on Thanksgiving Day

A metro Atlanta police officer’s home went up in flames on the morning of Thanksgiving Day. No residents or firefighters were injured, according to Paulding Fire Rescue.

McDonough elects first mayor from historic Blacksville neighborhood

Kam Varner has roots in Blacksville, a neighborhood established by formerly enslaved people after the Civil War.

The Latest

Sonny Bharadia, who spent more than two decades behind bars for a 2001 crime he did not commit, is suing the small town of Thunderbolt and the two law enforcement officers who handled his case. (Courtesy of Georgia Innocence Project)

Credit: Georgia Innocence Project

Man locked up for 23 years despite evidence proving his innocence, lawsuit says

Teen, 17, fatally shot while shopping at SW Atlanta complex, police say

Hiram officer loses home to fire on Thanksgiving Day

Featured

Carleigh Knight (left) and her sister, Natalie Rogovin, look at Christmas ornaments while shopping at Kudzu Antiques + Modern in Decatur on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (Natrice Miller/AJC)

Credit: Natrice Miller

Metro Atlanta retailers hopeful for strong holiday season after chaotic year

Some independent retailers in metro Atlanta are entering this holiday season feeling battered by what they call a chaotic year.

$21B data center proposal aims to become one of Georgia’s largest

Trammell Crow Co. is planning a $21 billion technology campus for a 1,632-acre site along I-75 roughly 60 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.

This metro Atlanta couple spearheaded a change in football helmets

Erin and Lee Hanson are the founders behind Guardian Sports, the company that makes the Guardian Caps worn by college football and NFL players.