The argument that triggered a stand-off ending in the death of a Cherokee County teen was made of ordinary parent-teen trials. Lisa Messina was upset about Andrew's bad grades. She worried the 16-year-old was running with the wrong crowd.
A common argument, but on Tuesday, something was different. The Etowah High School sophomore grabbed his father's .357 Magnum and loaded it, pointing it at his mother and his own neck while threatening to harm himself, 911 tapes reveal. Cherokee County authorities say the teen had been drinking and was taking prescription medication for depression.
"He always says things like this, but he’s never took [sic] action like this ... he's got issues, I guess," a worried Messina told a 911 dispatcher, asking for authorities to come to their home in the Eagle Watch subdivision of the Towne Lake community, near Woodstock.
The call, which captured her son shouting obscenities in the background, indicates she was more worried for her son than herself: "I think he's going to shoot himself. I do."
A little more than an hour later, Andrew was shot and killed by a sheriff's deputy after authorities say he pointed his gun at hostage negotiators. The slight and bespectacled teen was wearing a John Lennon T-shirt and blue shorts the day he died, according to 911 tapes.
The scene unfolded just before 6 p.m. Tuesday when Messina placed the call to authorities. At the advice of the dispatcher, Messina left the home and waited for authorities on a back deck. Upon their arrival, the teenager barricaded himself inside, said Cherokee County Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. Jay Baker. Messina's husband was driving home from work at the time, according to the 911 tapes.
Negotiators, backed by a SWAT team, tried to reason with Andrew, but the talks were unsuccessful. While three negotiators stood on the home's front steps, they observed Andrew pouring alcohol on the curtains inside and heard him threaten to burn down the house, police said. The teen also tried to shuttle his family dog out of the home.
Andrew was killed, authorities say, when he shoved his pointed gun through a pane of glass on the front door towards the negotiators. A sniper fired one round from a rifle, wounding Andrew in the abdomen. He was taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, where he was pronounced dead.
"We were there to protect the rest of the community. We weren't going to let him leave that house and let him threaten the community," Cherokee County Sheriff Roger Garrison said of the sniper's shooting. "[The negotiators'] lives were clearly in danger. They didn't even have their weapons drawn."
The GBI is assisting with the investigation into the shooting, Baker said. The deputy involved, whose name was not released, has been placed on routine administrative leave.
Andrew, or Andy, was an argumentative teen, his mother told dispatchers. But the family had tried to help him, taking him to family counseling and putting him on medication for depression and ADHD.
"He comes from a very good family," she said, as she waited for police to arrive. "We do so much for him, we try so hard."
Little more is yet known, but social media accounts describe a young man with pointed opinions. Andrew took to Twitter to communicate with friends, talking about his preference for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney compared to the other GOP hopefuls. His Facebook page, under the handle "Finnigan Quazzy", reveals he liked the color purple, supported gay marriage and considered himself an atheist. A GBI spokesman declined to comment on whether the teen may have been bullied at school.
Etowah High School spokeswoman Barbara Jacoby said guidance counselors were on-hand at the school for grieving students.
Garrison said the event has rocked his agency, which is still coming to grips with how an ordinary family argument quickly escalated into a stand-off. Officer involved shootings are rare in Cherokee County. "It's just a tragic situation all around," he said.
-- Staff writer Mike Morris contributed to this report.
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