<p>Like a scene out of an old Wild West television show, a law officer ended a police standoff with a distraught man in a Jonesboro parking lot by shooting the man's pistol out of harm's way.</p><p>Newly divorced and homeless, Steven Kim Gittens called 911 Thursday and said he planned to kill himself in the parking lot, which was soon swarmed by police.</p><p>A crowd of about 100 spectators gathered over a two-hour period. At one point, Gittens, 51, placed the gun to his head but spent most of the time wandering the parking lot near his truck, his finger on the trigger of the gun that was pointed toward the ground. When he walked over to the truck and put the gun on the hood, Clayton County police SWAT sniper Lt. Mark McGann shot it off the hood.</p><p>McGann had been aiming at Gittens' gun for 30 minutes from 65 yards away when his chief, Darrell Partain, gave the order to fire.</p><p>"Once you're told to take a shot you have to take it as soon as you can," McGann said. "It would seem difficult but if you have the proper equipment, the proper scope and if you've trained on the rifle, it's not that hard of a shot."</p><p>The shot from his McMillan .308 bolt-action rifle penetrated the truck's hood, eliminating the chance of ricochet, blowing the gun apart and sending it flying 20 feet.</p><p>SWAT officers forced Gittens to the ground.</p><p>Partain said a note was found in Gittens' truck that indicated he wanted to commit "suicide by cop," acting in a way that would force police to kill him.</p><p>Gittens, whose last known address was in Atlanta, was taken for a psychiatric observation.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x28663f0)</p>
