Man cuts off finger in
standoff
By Tom Smith
Senior Staff Writer
WAYNESBORO, TENN.
Last Updated:November 14. 2007 10:44PM
Published: November 15. 2007 3:30AM
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A local man ended a three-hour standoff with
authorities Tuesday after tear gas was fired into his residence.
"It ended about as well as could be expected," said Waynesboro
Police Sgt. Bryant Burcham.
Burcham said 43-year-old Clifton Ray Hill Jr., 605 Wayne St.,
Waynesboro, was taken to a local hospital before he was transferred
to a Nashville facility.
Burcham said Hill cut off one of his fingers.
Burcham said that during the course of the standoff, Clifton was
talking to law enforcement authorities and his wife.
"Then at some point, he said he was going to cut off all of his
fingers," Burcham said. "A short time later the decision was made to
go in when it appeared he was going to become a threat to himself
and possibly others."
The Waynesboro Police Department and Wayne County Sheriff's Office
were both called to the residence at 605 Wayne St., Waynesboro.
The incident began between 7:30 and 8 p.m.
"911 got a call of a man who was possibly suicidal, who said he had
barricaded himself in his house and wasn't going to let anyone in
and was going to harm himself," said Wayne County Sheriff Ric
Wilson.
Wilson said Hill refused to speak to anyone other than Chief Deputy
Gerald Baer, of the sheriff's department.
"After we got the call, we contacted the Waynesboro police and
members of our department as well as Chief Baer went to the
residence," Wilson said.
Wilson said Baer talked with Hill a couple of times on the telephone
and kept turning the lights in the house on and off.
"We didn't want him to harm himself or anyone else, so the decision
was made to go in," Burcham said.
Burcham said that shortly after the tear gas was shot into the
residence, Hill called out that he had given up.
"When we got in he was lying on the floor and he was taken out and
taken into custody without incident," Burcham said. "He had cut off
his left pinky finger, which still had a ring on it. We found the
finger, put it on ice and also found the hatchet that he had used to
cut it off with."
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