MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — When it comes to law enforcement, training is paramount.

An incident Wednesday afternoon in Baldwin County proved just how invaluable the new Georgia Peace Officer Standard Training mandated training on the topic of de-escalation actually is to many that work in law enforcement.

A real-life situation actually unfolded Wednesday at a local residence about half hour after several deputies and detectives underwent a specialized training class on de-escalation. The title of the training program was “Terminal Performance Objective,” according to Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Lynette LaRocque.

A mandatory de-escalation training program was put into effect last year by Gov. Nathan Deal, said Detective Capt. Brad King.

“It requires a certain amount of hours of POST credit per year to keep your POST certification as a police officer in Georgia,” King said.

A man threatened to take his own life with a gun at his residence about 4 p.m.

Deputy Sgt. Lee Kitchens said the man’s pastor had gotten in touch with the sheriff’s office saying one of his church members had recently lost his job and that he didn’t any longer want to live. At the time, the man reportedly was holding a gun to his head.

“At that point, I told Deputy (Will) Blackwell who got the call to stay close to the house and wait on another unit with him,” Kitchens told The Union-Recorder during a Thursday afternoon interview. “I got with him and we responded to the house together.”

When the two deputies pulled up to the residence, they parked in a strategic position, so it would provide them with a little cover.

“We did that because at the time, we really didn’t know what was going on,” Kitchens said, noting deputies weren’t sure if the man’s wife was with him in the residence or not at the time. “The preacher wasn’t sure if she was still there or not.”

Kitchens said as soon as he and Blackwell arrived, the man opened the door of his residence and started yelling, “‘Y’all are going to have to kill me today. Y’all are going to have to shoot me today.”’

The deputy sergeant said he and Blackwell responded back to the man that they weren’t there to hurt him and that they were simply there to help him.

“We tried to get him to calm down and to engage in a conversation with us in order to prevent the possibility of any sort of confrontation,” Kitchens said. “But we can’t see what he’s got in his hands.”

As much as deputies were concerned for the man’s safety, they equally were concerned for their own safety, too.

“The man was very agitated,” Kitchens recalled. “We could tell right off that he was very agitated.”

Kitchens said he and Blackwell continued to try to talk with the man.

“I kept trying to tell him that we were there to try to help him, but he’s yelling all kinds of things to us, telling us to get out of his yard, etc.,” Kitchens said. “We basically tried to keep him talking at that point, and try to get him to come out to make sure he didn’t have any weapons. Our main concern at that point was his safety, our safety – everybody’s safety.”

The man once again told deputies they were going to have to kill him.

“When he took a step out of the house, I told Deputy Blackwell to make sure he took cover,” Kitchens said. He got in his car and backed up and then got behind his vehicle, which is the normal kind of thing we do in a situation like that one. I took a shotgun out at that point and racked it. When he (the man) heard that he became more agitated.”

Kitchens said he told the man again that deputies were there to help him. Again, though, the man demanded the deputies leave his yard and that they were going to have to kill him.

“I said no sir, we’re not here to do that; we’re here to help you,” Kitchens said. “But you’ve got to let me know that you don’t have any weapons.”

The man then told deputies that he would strip naked to show them.

“I told him I’ve just got to know you don’t have any weapons, and I’ll put the gun up and we can all talk,” Kitchens said.

The man did what he said he would do.

“He basically stripped in front of us, and turned around,” Kitchens said. “I told that he was doing much and just to calm down and to turn his pockets inside out so I could see them. He went through a little chatter and at that point, I put the shotgun up.”

Kitchens commended the performance of Blackwell at the scene.

“He did a great job,” Kitchens said. “He (Blackwell) was engaging with the man and telling him that he and Kitchens were just there to offer their help to him. Come out, come out to my car and talk with us.”

After seeing that the man had no weapon on his person, deputies asked him to come out of his residence.

“I said do you want to step down there and talk with him (Blackwell),” Kitchens said. “He (the man) said, ‘Yea, I don’t know that I like you; I want to talk to him (Blackwell).”

Deputies later learned that the man had an arsenal of guns inside his residence, including rifles, shotguns and assorted pistols.

Kitchens explained that once he saw that the man was more receptive in talking with Blackwell that he merely backed off and let them engage in a conversation.

The once tense situation ended up with no one getting hurt and no charges being filed against the man.

Kitchens said he and the man later shook hands and talked some about their spiritual relationship with God.

“I told him that everybody has storm within their life and that if he could weather through the storm that he would be just fine,” Kitchens said, noting that the man explained to him that he had lost his job and that he couldn’t take care of his family, which was the root of the problem. I told him that we all have trials and tribulations.”

At one point, Kitchens said the man hugged him.

“I was glad it ended the way that it did, honestly,” Kitchens said.

Minutes later the man was taken by personnel with Grady/ORMC Emergency Medical Services to Oconee Regional Medical Center in Milledgeville for an evaluation. The man’s wife went with her husband in the ambulance.

During the call, Deputy Lt. Lee Williamson, and Deputy Ray Mosley, as well as Detectives Chuck Downing, Chris Burrell and Capt. Brad King.

The situation that unfolded in Baldwin County is something that happens much more often than the general public has knowledge about, King said.

He said the statement that the man made repeatedly that deputies would have to kill him is not as uncommon as many people might think.

“We hear that statement on a regular basis, unfortunately,” King said. “Of course, seldom does it ever come to that point – very seldom, even nationwide.”

Initially, it was an intense situation that unfolded, he admitted.

“Given the time frame that it all boiled down to from arrival to having him (the man) outside and unarmed talking and his agitation level way down, it only lasted about 30 minutes,” said King, noting that after he arrived and was briefed by Lt. Williamson that other law enforcement officers already there were told they could leave the scene. “There was no need for that additional personnel.”

King said everything was under control at that time.

The goal in this particular instance was to get the man the help he needed, King said.

“It ended quickly; nobody got hurt, and this man is able to get the help he needs, so no harm, no foul,” King said. “We do this everyday on different scales.”

The only difference is the high-profile ones – guys with guns, King added.

“When it comes to de-escalation, we actually do it more often than we do anything else,” King said.