Pastor who tried to save standoff suspect's life speaks

ACWORTH, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News is learning new details about an 11-hour standoff that shut down a Paulding County neighborhood.
 
Billy Edmondson, pastor of the Sutallee Baptist Church, is a friend of the suspect's family.
 
He had a phone conversation with the man and tried to convince him that his life was worth living.
 
Channel 2 Action News is not releasing the suspect's name because the Paulding Coun ty Sheriff's Office is still trying to notify his family.
 
Edmondson took the unexpected 30-minute phone call Monday night.
 
"He's in a lot of pain," Edmondson said. "He's really confused."
 
A suicidal man accused of shooting a high-powered rifle at deputies and holing himself up inside his Acworth home needed help.
 
"I felt like we covered a lot of things, and my whole stand was just trying to give him the courage to live," Edmondson said.

After the call, the pastor rushed to Heights Lane.
 
He says the suspect wanted him to come closer.
 
"Told me that if I would come up on the porch or walk up where he could see me and be there and ride in the ambulance with him, that he would give up," Edmondson said.
 
Edmondson said he would have done it, but the SWAT team wouldn't allow it.
 
It was too dangerous.
 
The man told the pastor he was dealing with a lot: job loss after more than 20 years, serious health troubles, and a denial of disability.
 
Edmondson tried to encourage him.
 
"That God loved him and he had a family that loved him," Edmondson said.
 
After nearly 11 hours, deputies say a SWAT robot discovered the man had shot and killed himself.
 
"Well, you just kind of walk away and feel like a failure," Edmondson said. "You know: coulda, woulda, shoulda, ifa."
 
The pastor knows other people are dealing with similar struggles.
 
"But just letting somebody know down the road that they got somebody that cares and that they're needed and you know they're loved," Edmondson said.