Antoinette Tuff works in the front office at Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy outside of Atlanta, and on Wednesday, she managed to talk down gunman Michael Brandon Hill before he shot anyone, including himself.
Instead of running when Hill approached the office, Tuff stayed put and decided to engage him in conversation – alternating between the tone of a parent and a disciplinarian. While speaking to Hill, who has struggled with mental health issues, Tuff was on the line with a 911 operator, allowing her heroic conversation with the intended gunman to be recorded.
Tuff served as a go-between for Hill and law enforcement, feeding the 911 operator the requests that Hill was making – for police to step back, for the police to stop using their radios and for a news channel to be contacted. Armed with an AK 47-style rifle and roughly 500 rounds of ammunition, Hill told Tuff that he didn’t want to hurt any children, which Tuff also relayed to the operator.
"He doesn't want the kids, he wants the police, so back off," she said in the call. "What else, sir? He said he don't care if he die, he don't have nothing to live for, and he said he's not mentally stable."
"It's going to be all right, sweetie," she told Hill later on in the call. "I just want you to know I love you, though, OK? And I'm proud of you. That's a good thing that you're just giving up and don't worry about it. We all go through something in life. No, you don't want that. You going to be OK. I thought the same thing, you know, I tried to commit suicide last year after my husband left me. But look at me now. I'm still working and everything is OK."
Towards the end of the call, a clearly impressed operator told Tuff, “Ma’am, you’re doing a great job.” DeKalb County Police Chief Cedric L. Alexander agreed that Tuff’s work was more than instrumental in securing the safety of the school.
"She was a real ally," he told CNN. "She was a real hero in all of this. She just did a stellar job. She was cool, she was calm, very collected in all of this, maintained her wherewithal."
After the police entered the school and restrained Hill, Tuff allowed herself a brief moment to shed her composure, telling the operator, “Let me tell you something, babe. I've never been so scared in all the days of my life. Oh, Jesus."
Thanks to Tuff not letting the fear get the best of her Wednesday morning, no one was injured, and Hill is currently in police custody and has been charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, terroristic threats and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He’s due to appear at a preliminary hearing on Sept. 5, where he will be represented by members of the mental health division of the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit.
– Chelsea Regan
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