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Pennsylvania authorities have released harrowing video footage shown at the trial of an armed man who took a 2-year-old girl hostage in her own home, while her mother begged and pleaded for her release during an hours-long standoff with police.
A jury convicted Antonio Hammond on Tuesday of kidnapping, possession of a firearm and several other offenses, the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office announced.
The trial footage captures the early minutes of the May 30, 2023, standoff between police and Hammond, who was holed up inside a Harrisburg home. The mother, Michele Peters, began recording Hammond as he held her crying, autistic daughter, while police officers outside ordered him to surrender.
Hammond repeatedly told the frantic mother that the police were “trying to kill me” and to “trust in God” as she begged him to let her daughter go.
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“I love people. I love kids,” Hammond is heard saying in the video.
“I don’t know what you did. I don’t even know you,” Peters pleaded. “Give me my baby, please! You’re scaring her.”
“You’ve got my pride and my joy and I don’t know you,” the distressed mother added.
When Hammond ordered her to keep filming him with her cell phone, she responded, “I am recording. I’m doing everything you asked me to do.”
As officers surrounded the residence, Hammond repeatedly shouted to the police outside, “I didn’t do anything.” Peters yelled back to the officers that Hammond had walked into her apartment and taken her child hostage. Meanwhile, officers continued ordering Hammond to step outside with his hands up.
At one point in the footage, the phone appears to drop to the floor, leaving the audio muffled.
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Prior to the recording, Hammond — who absconded from parole months earlier — had encountered law enforcement, PennLive Patriot-News reported. On the day of the standoff, officers spotted him wearing a mask on a hot day while walking with another individual.
Prosecutors said officers noticed Hammond had a firearm and attempted to stop him, prompting him to flee. During the ensuing foot chase, Hammond pointed a pistol at the pursuing officers and pulled the trigger, authorities said.
“While there were rounds in the magazine, there was not a round in the chamber,” the DA’s office stated in a news release. “The pistol only made a ‘click’ sound when Hammond pulled the trigger. Probation Officers Hoover and Robbins were five to eight feet away from Hammond when this occurred.”
Hammond then broke into the apartment where Peters and her three young children lived. Startled by his sudden intrusion, Peters was ordered by Hammond to record him, as he believed police would not shoot him if he was on camera. Meanwhile, he continued to hold the 2-year-old child and the pistol while shouting at police.
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Peters was eventually able to escape the apartment with her infant daughter. However, Hammond kept the toddler hostage as negotiations with police deteriorated.
After nearly six hours, a Crisis Response Team (CRT) entered the home through a rear door.
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“Hammond had the toddler in his arms while holding the semi-automatic pistol. Hammond pointed the handgun at the entry team and then put the muzzle against the toddler’s face,” the DA’s office said.
A CRT member successfully forced the handgun down and shot Hammond in the face. Other officers then rushed the toddler to safety. Medics treated Hammond at the scene, saving his life, authorities said.
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