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Crime

Pittsburgh Hostage-Taker Surrenders to Police After Standoff

Sep. 21, 2012 9:50am Madeleine Morgenstern

Pittsburgh Police Responding to Hostage Situation in Downtown High Rise | Alleged Suspect Facebook Posts

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. A call about an armed man inside the building prompted an evacuation amid reports of a hostage situation. (AP)

Image source: Facebook

Update III: Police say Klein Michael Thaxton has surrendered and his hostage is OK. See below.

Update II: The Facebook page belonging to suspect Klein Michael Thaxton has been shut down.

The page was shut down shortly after 1 p.m., according to the Associated Press.

Update I: KDKA-TV has reported the suspect is being identified as 22-year-old Klein Michael Thaxton.

A Facebook page appearing to belong to Thaxton shows that he has been posting during the standoff. (Content warning — strong language):

i cant take it no more im done bro
how this ends is up to yall bro real shyt
welln pops youll never have to woryy about me again you’ll nevr need to by me anything no need to ever waste ur hard earned money on me. i’ll live n jail you dnt want me around anymore thats kool bye…i love u assata sis
this life im livn rite now i dnt want anymore ive lost everything and i aint gettn it back instead of walkn around all broke n shyt while n—as stunt on me n shyt
stop postn silly shyt bruh i aint laughin rite now n—a!
fake mafukaz, thats the shyt i dnt like!

Family and friends have been pleading with him through Facebook to resolve the situation safely and peacefully:

“Aye man I just saw your mom, she’s really upset man, think about the people around you that do care about you yo, think about you mom, and what she’s going through.”
“Klein jus stop an pray u have family that loves u your mom is on tv crying if u need to talk jus call me it’s not worth it u are going to be ok u always been a good person don’t let people get to u.”

Image source: Facebook

Police have said Thaxton has a military background; a photo he posted on Facebook depicts President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Image source: Facebook

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A suicidal man who held a businessman hostage inside a downtown Pittsburgh office building for more than five hours Friday, posting Facebook updates during the standoff, surrendered to authorities without incident, police said.

Klein Michael Thaxton, 22, surrendered just before 2 p.m., and the man he took hostage was unhurt, Police Chief Nathan Harper said.

The hostage-taking on the 16th floor of Three Gateway Center prompted an evacuation while Thaxton wrote on Facebook that had “lost everything” and that people didn’t have to worry about him anymore.

His friends responded by urging him to end the situation peacefully, including one who asked him to think of his mother.

A police spokeswoman identified the hostage as Charles Breitsman, owner of CW Breitsman Associates. The firm runs employee-benefits programs, but it wasn’t immediately clear why he was targeted.

“(Thaxton) is a sick young man and we do need to take measures to see he is taken care of as well,” police spokeswoman Diane Richard said.

People evacuated by Pittsburgh Police from the Gateway Three office building wait outside as the police negotiate with a man who claims to have a bomb in a suite in the sixteenth floor, in downtown Pittsburgh Friday, Sept. 21, 2012. A call about an armed man inside the building prompted the evacuation amid reports of a hostage situation. (AP)

Police asked Facebook to take down Thaxton’s page early in the afternoon in hopes of steering all of his attention to negotiations.

The Facebook exchanges had the potential to both help and harm the negotiations, Harper said. It’s helpful that Thaxton can see “that people are concerned about his well-being,” Harper said, but “it is a distraction for negotiating.”

A worker on the 16th floor described a woman running into her office yelling for someone to call 911. Kathi Dvorak, an administrative assistant at AXA Advisors, said a second woman ran in and said her office was being robbed.

Harper had described the hostage-taker as having a military background but didn’t elaborate.

Thaxton has a criminal record that includes a guilty plea to robbery earlier this year and a minimum six-month jail sentence.

Joel Kirchartz, a 28-year-old web developer who works on the 17th floor, said he and his co-workers looked out the windows Friday morning and “a bunch of cops pulled up with all sorts of sirens going; there must have been 20 of them.” He said he went downstairs to find out what was happening and by the time he got outside, police had sealed the building.

Another worker, Sarah Vereb, said she was at her desk when she was ordered to leave the building shortly after a friend called to report that she wasn’t being allowed up from the lobby.

Hundreds of workers walked down the stairwell. Vereb said the exodus was orderly and “very, very quiet.”

A phone message left for the building’s Santa Monica, Calif.-based ownership group was not immediately returned. The building complex management office confirmed the evacuation and said it was working with police.

Earlier post below:

WPXI-TV:

Emergency crews have responded to a hostage situation in downtown Pittsburgh’s Gateway Center.

A person inside of the building told Channel 11 News that a man armed with a gun and at least two duffel bags with unknown contents is on the 16th floor. Initial reports indicated that the man said he had explosives in the bags.

Sources said the man pulled out the gun around 8:20 a.m.

Target 11 investigator Rick Earle reported that the gunman may be a disgruntled employee. Sources told Earle that the man may have one female hostage inside of a room on the 16^th floor.

A security guard told Earle that he overheard a female say, “Don’t come in here. You will get hurt.” The guard said he then called police. It is still not known if police negotiators have been in contact with the suspected gunman.

The 16^th floor has been placed on lockdown and the rest of the building has been evacuated. Bomb sniffing dogs have been sent into the building.

KDKA-TV:

According to initial reports, the person being held hostage may be the owner or the manager of the fund, which is run out of Suite 1625 inside Gateway Three.

According to Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper, a man walked in and started asking questions just before it all started.

Police say the suspect is holed up in an inner office of the suite.

Chief Harper says no shots have been fired and no one has been hurt. Officials are in communication with the suspect and the situation is ongoing.

Chief Harper say they want to contain the area, make sure others are safe and make sure on one else is in harm’s way.

Witnesses reported seeing the suspect with two bags and was waving something, possibly a weapon, around.

This post has been updated since it was first published.

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Comments (48)

hades3
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 10:17pm
As too his military background, if he got through the induction process, my guess he didn’t make it through boot camp. That would be the extent of his military background. At his age, he prbably is a
border line PS. Hope he gets the help he needs. Happy no one was killed or injured.

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Hannibal_32
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 6:04pm
If I had his spelling and grammatical skills, I would do the same thing. It’s pure laziness to degrade the language to such unusable slang. If this vocabulary-regression keeps up, they’ll eventually be back to communicating with pops and clicks (again)..

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term limits for congress
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 5:31pm
He will qualify for the ‘crazy’ check now (as opposed to welfare or disability).

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AlcoholicMB
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 4:51pm
How on Earth can people go through their lives spelling and speaking that way?

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- N37BU6
  Posted on September 23, 2012 at 7:23am
  Amazing, isn’t it?
  
  Report this comment
BODYBAG
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 4:02pm
How come none of these nut-jobs ever vents in a constructive way
like storming Nancy Pelosi’s office?

Pelosi: Bush Left Us an Economy in ‘The Depths of Hell’
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/pelosi-bush-left-us-economy-depths-hell

Someone please pop a cap in this lying sack already. She’s the very
definition of a terminal cancer. Congress writes the legislation and approves
the funding. That would be YOU Nancy. F*ing insane moron.

Take a gander at how long Democrats have held Congressional power
compared to Republicans:
http://uspolitics.about.com/od/usgovernment/l/bl_party_division_2.htm

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jay1975
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 3:09pm
Maybe if he had learned to spell and use proper grammar, he wouldn’t be so broke. It must be hard to fill out a McDonald’s application when you don’t even know how to.

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Val_Dragon
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 1:13pm
This is an OWS thug sent in by the Obama Admin to distract from Obamas “I can’t change washington gaffe. Trust me.

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- blanco5
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 1:37pm
  I would believe it!
  
  Report this comment
- Biff_Poindexter
  Posted on September 22, 2012 at 4:26pm
  Don’t pull a muscle with that stretch…
  
  Report this comment
ShakeTheBaby
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 1:02pm
I should friend him and tell him to find the tallest building he can, and do the right thing. What a waste. I feel no sympathy for him, if it were my family he had hostage, not only would he pay, but i would take it out on his whole family. Sad thing is…he is not the only waste of human flesh out there.

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- olderjarhead
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 1:10pm
  If it was somebody in my family, they would be on their way back from lunch already. This small problem would have been solved about 2 minutes after it began.
  
  Report this comment
watashbuddyfriend
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 1:01pm
Damn, “… He described the suspect as “ex-military,” why does the Military have to take the blame? If he is “ex-military” at the age of 22???? not likely, because, as I understand, the military will not take him, if he did not complete high school?

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- Outrider IT
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 1:22pm
  He could have joined when he was 18, or late 17 with parental consent. Minimum term is 4 years, but if he got the boot before then… either way, it adds up to >=22.
  
  The military will take GEDs, and I’ve heard of people slipping by without those (if the recruiter and team didn’t do their due diligence).
  
  Report this comment
- blanco5
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 1:40pm
  Unfortunately, the military will take anyone with a pulse. The military desperately needs to clean house!
  
  Report this comment
- AlcoholicMB
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 4:54pm
  They do and will take anyone with a pulse, and weed out most of the nutjobs and criminals before they make it to a real unit.
  
  Some criminals and nutjobs manage to slip through, though. It’s like any corporation or business, you will have one or two nutjobs and criminals in it. Military is over 2 million, mostly minority. Do the math.
  
  Report this comment
Bob_R_OathKeeper
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:57pm
Post my comments or I’m done giving you 9.95/month, tired of seeing posts worse than mine that are kept up.

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sallyredneck
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:50pm
After seeing the President with his gold bottles at fund raising events it is no wonder that others feel like it is all over.

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olderjarhead
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:47pm
I can’t understand why people in the media (including The Blaze), are so averse to publishing, or saying words like “*****” . Are you so caught up in PC that you can’t even report a story factually, and precisely? OOOH the big scary “N” word. It’s no wonder we can’t speak the truth about race in America. We have been forbidden to enter certain territories, as defined by the liberals. I guess everyone has bought into it. Don’t want to hurt any feelings here.

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- olderjarhead
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:52pm
  UNBELIEVABLE! The Blaze SUCKS!
  
  Report this comment
- watashbuddyfriend
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:54pm
  @ olderjarhead
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:47pm
  
  “I can’t understand why people in the media (including The Blaze), are so averse to publishing, or saying words like “*****”.”
  
  YOU right on target!
  
  Report this comment
- Jenny Lind
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 1:21pm
  Maybe because older people like me think it is a disgusting and ugly word. People who can’t make their arguement without filthy words do not impress me and show the depth of depravity our society has sunk to. Filthy words should never be OK, so tell me all you believers-would you say that in front of Christ? Do you think it’s OK to say to children and young women who aren’t raised like wolves? My son is retired marine. My husband a retired Master Chief. Do I think they used that word-yes, but not in front of me or their daughters and Ben’s wife. We as their family do not use it. In fact, most women I know think is a filthy word. Is that word all you have to offer in the conversation? Do not give me the arguement that teenagers use it, not all of them do, some are not being raised by wolves and have standards in their homes. Shock, even some men do not use it.
  
  Report this comment
- MLeonova
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 2:30pm
  They follow the RULES OF JOURNALISM. Their are 7 (seven) words that cannot be on TV, RADIO and NEWS. It’s not their choice how to write the article. ITS A FORBIDDEN WORD.
  
  Report this comment
luvamerica
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:40pm
If Obama had a son he would look like him. Check out his Facebook page, he’s got a picture of Obama as his “cover page.” Maybe he’s depressed cause he knows Obama’s going to lose and therefore all the free money is going to cease.

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truthnstuff
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:36pm
Here we go again…..celebrating a low life POS who is being celebrated with new “friends” and victimization by society. Another “reality TV” moment. If we stopped giving these creeps press and notoriety maybe some of it would stop.

Reality TV may be worse for this country 0bama. Well …maybe.

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MrKnowItAll
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:18pm
Who will be blamed for this guy and his OWN ACTIONS? I posted before our leader has made blaming everyone else for any problem a Very Contagious Disease. If he is taken alive and locked up. Every person he is holding will suffer the same fate the rest of their lives. Start teaching at a very young age to take responsibility for your own actions. I can tell you this guy’s real thoughts right now. They are….Why did I do this? I don’t want to go to prison. I can tell you my thoughts right now. I think what type of man would put his Mother and all the innocent people through this ordeal? He is the Poster Child for our Poor Me Society!

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Landon410
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:13pm
i pulled his facebook up on my phone. people are adding him as a friend, he became friends with 10 peple in the last 10 minutes

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RobbieTLHughie
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:00pm
Let’s pray this ends with no one getting hurt, including the really misguided perp.

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- Want our country back
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:11pm
  Our education systen is worse than one could imagine….. if his tweets are any indication of how to communicate, we are doomed.
  
  At 22 he’s discouraged at the state of his life, OMG, he hasn’t even started a life and he’s already given up. Does obamacae have mental health care for these misguided kids.
  
  I hope that the innocent hostage is spared and that this kid gets the help he needs.
  
  Report this comment
- WindyDualism
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:17pm
  Let’s hope the negotiators are up on hood speak too, yo.
  
  Report this comment
- Wilsonpd
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:37pm
  America, 2012: Hopelessness and despair at age 22. So sad. Pray for this young man. Pray that he doesn’t hurt anyone, including himself.
  
  Report this comment
kennycannon
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 11:56am
Based on his Facebook postings, he sounds like a typical crazy white person with a gun.

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- JT-CPR
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:15pm
  That’s exactly what I was thinking. Hmmm….wonder if the gun was purchased legally?
  
  Report this comment
- VRW Conspirator
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:17pm
  ah man…you just had to go there… LOL
  
  Report this comment
- Roll Tide Roll
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:18pm
  LOL – shut up troll. As usual, you progressives don’t bother to check out the facts before you open and engage your mouths. First, I am pretty certain the perp is actually a black man. Second, who cares if he is white or black? Does that change the severity of the crime/situation or really change it in any way?
  
  Leave it up to your Progressives to politicize a potentially tragic situation. Get a life loser….
  
  Report this comment
- Cesium
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:25pm
  @roll tide roll… How fast did Kenny’s joke just fly over the top of your head.?. maybe took some hairs with it?
  
  Report this comment
- WarMunger_Al
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:34pm
  of course he is a black man…it is Philly.
  Very sad indeed, to be this lost and hopeless. Hope they talk him down without the cops shooting him 40 times or more.
  
  Report this comment
- WindyDualism
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 1:08pm
  This is just a BET after school program in the making. Can get pimp with a limp to take the lead role. Maybe lil Kim as the romantic lil beotch. Just keepin it real, yo.
  
  Report this comment
- DaveIn84
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 1:40pm
  WarMunger_Al
  Pittsburgh, not Philly. Invest in a map.
  
  Report this comment
carpee
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 11:50am
this is going to be a made for tv movie…i can see it already

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- VRW Conspirator
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 12:16pm
  it already was…wasn’t it with Denzel…called “John Q”… or Samuel L. called “the Negotiator”….. or…ah well..i am sure there was more..
  
  maybe his family can sue the Hollywood studios that made those movies for giving him the idea and pushing him over the edge…
  
  Report this comment
truthseer
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 10:26am
It is apparently a digrunted local union worker (pipe fitter) that is angry about his pension. a company in that building manages the pipe fitter’s local union pension fund

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- proliance
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 11:54am
  His Facebook page says he works at Pauly’s Car Garage (whatever that is.)
  
  Report this comment
- DaveIn84
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 1:42pm
  Truthseer
  22 years old with a pension problem? Try again.
  
  Report this comment
Landon410
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 10:14am
the hostage taker is upset over a video that talks bad about something, and as we all know, if you are upset about something that offended you, kill people

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- PeppermintCrush
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 10:23am
  I know, right?
  
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- RobbieTLHughie
  Posted on September 21, 2012 at 11:59am
  It’s so fun to live in a world where anything, no matter what it is or how minor will result in death threats.
  
  Report this comment
Delores at CH WV
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 9:59am
Thanks for the info, we have family in PA downtown.

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