Pennsylvania officials have made public disturbing trial video showing an armed man holding a 2-year-old girl hostage inside her family’s home, as the child’s mother desperately pleaded for her release during a tense standoff with police that lasted for hours.
Antonio Hammond was found guilty Tuesday of kidnapping, firearm possession and multiple related charges, according to an announcement from the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office.
The video presented at trial shows the opening moments of the May 30, 2023, confrontation, when Hammond was barricaded inside a home in Harrisburg. Michele Peters, the child’s mother, recorded Hammond as he held her crying autistic daughter while officers outside commanded him to come out and surrender.
As Peters begged for her little girl, Hammond repeatedly claimed police were “trying to kill me” and urged the distraught mother to “trust in God.”
Antonio Hammond was convicted Tuesday of kidnapping in connection with a May 30, 2023, incident in which prosecutors said he held a 2-year-old girl hostage inside her Pennsylvania home. (Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office)
“I love people. I love kids,” Hammond can be heard saying in the footage.
“I don’t know what you did. I don’t even know you,” Peters pleaded. “Give me my baby, please! You’re scaring her.”
“You’ve got my pride and my joy and I don’t know you,” the visibly shaken mother said.
When Hammond ordered her to keep filming him with her cell phone, she responded, “I am recording. I’m doing everything you asked me to do.”
As officers surrounded the residence, Hammond repeatedly shouted to the police outside, “I didn’t do anything.” Peters yelled back to the officers that Hammond had walked into her apartment and taken her child hostage. Meanwhile, officers continued ordering Hammond to step outside with his hands up.
At one point in the footage, the phone appears to drop to the floor, leaving the audio muffled.
Antonio Hammond was filmed taking a 2-year-old child hostage in a Pennsylvania apartment. (Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office)
Prior to the recording, Hammond — who absconded from parole months earlier — had encountered law enforcement, PennLive Patriot-News reported. On the day of the standoff, officers spotted him wearing a mask on a hot day while walking with another individual.
Prosecutors said officers noticed Hammond had a firearm and attempted to stop him, prompting him to flee. During the ensuing foot chase, Hammond pointed a pistol at the pursuing officers and pulled the trigger, authorities said.
“While there were rounds in the magazine, there was not a round in the chamber,” the DA’s office stated in a news release. “The pistol only made a ‘click’ sound when Hammond pulled the trigger. Probation Officers Hoover and Robbins were five to eight feet away from Hammond when this occurred.”
Hammond then broke into the apartment where Peters and her three young children lived. Startled by his sudden intrusion, Peters was ordered by Hammond to record him, as he believed police would not shoot him if he was on camera. Meanwhile, he continued to hold the 2-year-old child and the pistol while shouting at police.
The trial footage captures the early minutes of the May 30, 2023, standoff between police and Hammond, who was holed up inside a Harrisburg home. (Paul Taggart/Bloomberg via Getty Images, File)
Peters was eventually able to escape the apartment with her infant daughter. However, Hammond kept the toddler hostage as negotiations with police deteriorated.
After nearly six hours, a Crisis Response Team (CRT) entered the home through a rear door.
“Hammond had the toddler in his arms while holding the semi-automatic pistol. Hammond pointed the handgun at the entry team and then put the muzzle against the toddler’s face,” the DA’s office said.
A CRT member successfully forced the handgun down and shot Hammond in the face. Other officers then rushed the toddler to safety. Medics treated Hammond at the scene, saving his life, authorities said.
