Police block off the area around Three Gateway Center, building left rear, where they are negotiating with a man who claims to have a bomb, in downtown Pittsburgh Friday, Sept. 21, 2012.
As Klein Michael Thaxton allegedly held a man hostage on the 16th floor of a Pittsburgh office tower, he was also posting Facebook updates. Thaxton claimed to have a bomb and a gun as he forced the evacuation of the 24-story building.
A profile page in Thaxton’s name continued to post updates as the crisis unfolded, which only added to the drama. The first update came at 8:54 a.m., according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Thaxton, 22, updated at least four more times before the page was shut down around 1 p.m. Police chief Nate Harper said the Facebook account was closed because it was a “distraction to our negotiators,” though he did call it “beneficial because it shows people care” about Thaxton after a number of friends wrote replies to him.
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The standoff ended around 1:55 p.m. Harper said that the hostage, identified as Charles Breitsman, “is safe. No harm came to him.” Thaxton surrendered peacefully and was taken into custody, saying nothing as he was led out of the building, according to local news reports.
The standoff began around 8 a.m. Friday morning when Thaxton allegedly walked into the Three Gateway Center building in Pittsburgh and asked for Breitsman. He was directed to the 16th floor, the office of CW Breitsman Associates, a benefits-administration company owned by the man who would be taken hostage.
Police and SWAT team members were called to negotiate for Breitsman’s safe release, as was Thaxton’s mother, sister, brother and girlfriend, according to WTAE.
And the downtrodden messages he posted to the social networking site also brought out loved ones. After he wrote at 9:03 a.m., “this life im livn rite now i dnt want anymore ive lost everything and i aint gettn it back,” at least two commenters wrote supportive notes in reply. Sharlene Younger wrote a prayer for joy and strength for Thaxton, and Victoyia Townes said: “if u didn’t have a purpose n life then u wouldn’t be here.”
Harper said Thaxton seemed to be cooperative. Thaxton, a former member of the U.S. Army, was discovered to have a previous criminal record, with an arrest earlier this year for armed robbery and one last year for carjacking.
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