Police chief on hostage taker: 'Our priority is the protection of life'

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — "Let me begin by saying I send my condolences to the family of this young man." Those are the words from Cobb County police Chief Mike Register following last week's bank hostage situation that left one man dead.

Brian Easley entered the Wells Fargo at 2675 Windy Hill Road in Marietta around 9:30 a.m. Friday and told employees he had a bomb, according to officers.

[READ: Cobb County hostage suspect told us by phone he didn't want to hurt anyone]

He spoke to Channel 2 Action News for about 45 minutes during the incident. During our conversation, he identified himself as a Marine veteran.

Channel 2's Aaron Diamant spent Friday working to corroborate his claims.

Through our military contacts, Diamant confirmed Easley served in the Marines from January 2002 through December 2005.

On Monday, Channel 2's Mark Winne spoke to Register, who is a veteran himself.

Register told Winne that as a veteran, he's sympathetic to the plight of the thousands of veterans who have served their country honorably and selflessly.

He said that some veterans come back and need help in so many ways. “I think this is just another example of a young man who gave to his country and felt possibly that the country didn't give back to him,” Register said.

“So you went home that night. When you put your head on the pillow, what's running through your heart and mind?” Winne asked.

“Didn't sleep much that night, and I can tell you the young man who fired that shot didn't sleep much that night,” Register said.

Register said he'll never forget his time in overseas combat, but he can never forget his responsibilities to protect the innocent.

“Our priority is the protection of life,” Register said.

[READ: Witnesses held inside Chick-fil-A for hours as bank standoff unfolds]
              
Register says he spent eight years as director of a pentagon unit whose mission was defeating improvised explosive device's (IED) overseas.

“An IED can be devastating,” he said.

He said only hours after the incident, authorities learned Easley's backpack contained no explosives.
           
The chief says after Easley spoke at length by phone with Channel 2 Action News, the suspect was in near constant contact with Cobb County negotiators, but eventually "we saw a window of opportunity," Register said.
             
He said a Cobb police SWAT operator saw an opportunity to end the confrontation and shot Easley from outside the bank.

“Did negotiations break down?” Winne asked. “Negotiations we're still on going,” Register said.

SWAT quickly removed the hostages, and a robot went in to check on the suspect and backpack. He called the GBI in for an independent investigation of the shooting.

"I wish it would have turned out differently," Register said. "I do. My heart goes out to the young man and his family, but we have a job to do and we did our job based on not what we wanted to do, but what he made us do."

Cox Media Group