WSB editor tells bank standoff suspect: ‘We don’t want anybody hurt’

It’s Stephanie Steiger’s job to help gather the news, not be part of it.

And she prefers to do her work behind the scenes, not with a camera in her face and her newsroom colleagues hovering around her desk.

But that all changed Friday morning when the WSB-TV assignment editor heard these frightening words when she answered the phone:

“I have a bomb and I’m holding people hostage.”

The voice on the other end of the phone turned out to be Brian Easley, who said he was holding two female employees of a Wells Fargo bank hostage on Windy Hill Road in Cobb County.

As she often does, Steiger immediately began gathering as much information as possible — while at the same time letting one of her executive producers and her fellow assignment desk editors know what was going on.

She was calm. She was deliberate. She was soothing.

“We don’t want anybody hurt,” she told him.

“How extensive is the bomb? she asked.

“Are there innocent people in the room?”

“How many people do you have inside with you?”

She said she thought he just wanted to talk to someone.

Meanwhile, it was chaos around her as her coworkers contacted police and helped her get the breaking news on the air and online.

“It was (chaos), but you learn in this business that you have to tune things out,” she said.

Steiger, who has worked for Channel 2 Action News for five years during a distinguished career, remained on the phone for nearly 45 minutes. She even asked him how he wanted to be addressed: Brian or Mr. Easley.

After that, Steiger began to gather facts about Easley’s life. That he was a former Marine. That he was homeless and was about to run out of money. That he was upset with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Her theory for keeping him on the line? “As long as we kept talking, hopefully things could be worked out.”

Easley mentioned to her that he was concerned about the snipers outside. He even said he could see officers across the street at Popeye’s.

At some point, she told him she wanted to speak to the two hostages. Both said they were fine. One asked that someone call her husband and tell him she was OK.

Those two hostages were eventually released, and not long afterward news arrived that Easley was dead.

The standoff was over after more than three hours, but for Steiger, those tense moments will remain with her.

“I’m still pretty numb from it all,” she said just before leaving for the day. “I’ve been able to get through the day by not dwelling on it too much and just continuing to do my job.

“I think it will hit me more later.”