GALLATIN, Ten. - The civilian who ended Wednesday’s hostage situation at the Sumner County jail spoke with NewsChannel 5 about what happened.
An airborne crash in a patrol car was what first alerted Sumner County deputies something was wrong at the Jail.
“An officer's been run over in the sally port we think he's got a gun,” shouted a jail employee into the phone during a 911 call from the jail.
Police said James McCutchen broke free from an officer who was bringing him in and tried to make a getaway.
“He's in visitation! I just heard he's in visitation now,” the jail employee exclaimed to dispatch.
That 911 call tracked McCutchen's movements into the building, armed with the officer's shot gun.
“I think when he first walked in he said the police were gonna kill him,” said Anthony Hyde, “and (he said) there were a bunch of people coming with him today.”
The video showed Hyde and his wife Alicia in their turquoise work shirts at the counter in the jail. They were there filing a report.
That was when the suspect told everyone to get down and a room full of families and children scatter to the ground.
Anthony said soon after, McCutchen threatened to kill a young girl.
“He said ‘whose girl is this?’ and he said ‘come here little girl’ and he said something about ‘you're gonna be the first one,’” Hyde recalled.
All he could think of was his own 5-year-old son Brayden. He said he had to take action.
“I put my hands over my head so he couldn't see what I was focused on. And as I got up off my knees, which would give me the opportunity to lunge, I just jumped forward and grabbed the gun with both hands and pushed it and pushed him,” Hyde said.
Hyde spent some time in Marine boot camp where he learned how to move quickly and yell loudly to intimidate an attacker. “I hit him until I was out of oxygen, I just kept on and kept on,” he said.
Thursday his voice was sore from yelling and a bone in his hand was broken, but everyone was alive.
Gallatin Police took over the case, because a deputy fired his weapon at McCutchen.
Officers said they believed the shooting was justified. They said McCutchen raised the shotgun at the deputy before the shot was fired.
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