A man who held nine hostages in his Georgia apartment for four days gave himself up after cops let him surrender on live TV.
Jamie Hood, the man accused of killing a Georgia police officer, reportedly told cops that he was sorry for the shooting as he was being taken in to custody.
“I regret killing that officer,” Hood reportedly told a WXIA-TV reporter after he surrendered Friday night at a home in Athens. “That officer. That innocent officer. I regret that. He didn’t deserve that.”
When asked why he had done it, Hood said he thought police were going to kill him.
“You know, they killed my brother,” said Hood, whose brother was killed by police in 2001 while Hood was in prison on an armed robbery conviction. “They were going to kill me.”
Hood, who was on the run for four days after allegedly gunning down Athens-Clarke County Senior Police Officer Elmer “Buddy” Christian and wounding his partner in a traffic stop Tuesday, took hostages at a house in Athens and told police he would only surrender if it was covered on live TV.
“He was convinced he was going to be killed by law enforcement,” Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vernon Keenan said after the suspect surrendered.
Keenan went on TV Friday night as the standoff dragged on, promising Hood that police would not hurt him if he turned himself in and freed the hostages.
Christian and his partner, Senior Police Officer Tony Howard, pulled over the SUV Howard was riding in Tuesday to question him about a carjacking spree.
They had arrested the driver of the vehicle when Hood allegedly got out and shot Howard in the face and upper body, then came and shot Christian, who was still sitting in the police car.
Hood, 33, is being held without bond on murder and other charges.
Christian’s funeral was scheduled for today. He was an 8-year veteran of the Athens police department and was married with two young children.
Howard is expected to recover from his wounds.
An initial court hearing for Hood has not yet been set, and Hood’s defense attorney, Jim Smith, did not return a message seeking comment Saturday.
by Sasha Dubronitz
Jamie Hood, 33, said he feared being shot dead by officers, like his brother was a decade ago.
