Hamilton County SWAT team teaches NewsChannel 9 crew training tasks
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A Hamilton County man is waiting to learn his fate after pleading guilty to shooting at police last year.
Thursday, some of the officers showed NewsChannel 9 how they handled the situation.
Lt. Spencer Daniels was at the standoff on Legget Road.
He says the call was different than the majority of them.
"Yeah we got shot at," he said. "I mean, most of the time the suspects we go after - they usually surrender."
Sheriff Jim Hammond said, "Once we know that weapons are involved that ramps everything up even more."
That's where the training comes in.
"We're ready for just about anything that could come our way," Daniels said.
Daniels says his men threw 19 rounds of tear gas into the suspects house and returned fire that day on Legget Road back in September of 2016.
"It had no effect on him, and then finally he actually just gave up and got tired or shooting at us," Daniels said.
Months after his arrest, the suspect, Kevin New, pleaded guilty to several counts of aggravated assault.
Officers believe he was intoxicated and having a mental breakdown during this standoff.
Daniels says the fact that everyone is still alive proves the training is worth doing.
"All of our guys went home safe. He's alive and the justice system did it's job," Daniels said.
Kevin New will be sentenced on October 30.
The sheriff says the SWAT team is called in more often than they used to be due to what he called an increase in mental health issues.
