Atlanta, GA
How an Atlanta police officer was able to convince knife-wielding woman not to harm herself
Officer seen on camera calming woman in crisis
She was along the Chattahoochee River, holding a knife to her chest. That is where Atlanta Police Officer Harding stepped in. What happened next will be studied by other officers for years.
ATLANTA – Atlanta police released video on Friday of one of their officers successfully talking a woman down from hurting herself, as she had a knife pressed against her own chest.
“Put the knife down for me and grab my hand,” APD Officer Harding can be heard saying on his bodycam video.
He was trying desperately to talk a woman down from hurting herself as she holds a knife against her chest, seemingly ready to stab herself.
“I don’t want you to hurt yourself, you’re precious, you’re a precious human being,” Officer Harding tells the woman on the video.
On June 27, Officer Harding responded to the call of a missing woman being spotted at around 11:30 a.m. at an address along Paces Ferry Road.
She had been reported missing by her family only an hour before.
Once he encounters the woman sitting along the Chattahoochee River, he immediately tries to make her feel safe.
“I’m serious, there’s too many people that love you. I’m here to help you,” he says to her.
“I was so impressed and so moved by watching this officer have such compassion for this woman who was clearly in incredible pain,” said Atlanta psychotherapist Laura Morse after she watched the video.
She says the way Officer Harding starts the encounter with the woman was key.
“He chose to engage her personally, to let her know that he saw her, that he knew that she was in trouble, that he cared about her,” Morse said.
At one point, Harding says to her, “God loves you, we love you.”
Later, Harding sits down in front of her before continuing to talk to her, essentially slowing down the whole interaction.
“He provided hope for her, and he was patient. He waited for her to come around instead of forcing an agenda or charging her,” said Cori Ross, LCSW.
Ross says the officer’s patient approach not only calmed the woman down, but also allowed him to act calmly.
“So, by slowing it down, he creates calm in his body, he’s able to access his rational brain, get in touch with the situation, not feel threatened,” Ross said.
These two experts say his approach is what eventually allowed Harding to get her to surrender the knife and climb off the riverbank.
“Can I have the knife? Let me have the knife. Let me have it, thank you!” he says to her as she hands him the large knife.
Even after making her safe, Harding continues to reassure her.
At one point she calls herself “a failure.” However, Harding reassures her and tells her “God doesn’t make failures.”
Eventually he gets her to paramedics and mental health clinicians who are standing by.
“It is everything that you hope an interaction would be when it’s regarding mental illness or mental health issues,” Morse said.
Officer Harding has been with APD since 2009.
The Department says what he did relates to their de-escalation training, which officers have to complete annually.
Both Morse and Ross say they hope law enforcement agencies will learn from this interaction.
Atlanta, GA
Bill Belichick takes in girlfriend Jordon Hudson’s Atlanta cheerleading competition
She’s cheer captain, and he’s in the bleachers.
Bill Belichick was in Atlanta over the weekend to cheer on his 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, during a cheerleading competition, TMZ reported.
Hudson was competing for Code Black, which she cheered for in a Cheer Extreme All-Stars event in Raleigh, North Carolina, in November.
Belichick sported a button-down shirt, jeans and a Navy submarine cap, while Hudson donned the Code Black uniform, as did the rest of her teammates.
Photos published by the outlet showed the two all smiles as they stood next to one another.
Hudson had also posted a video of part of the routine Code Black performed during the first day of the competition.
Belichick has not been shy about supporting his younger paramour since their relationship became public over the summer of 2024.
The University of North Carolina football coach, and six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach, attended the cheer competition in November and was there to support Hudson at the Miss Maine USA pageant earlier this year.
Hudson has been there to support Belichick throughout his first season at the helm at UNC, which drew plenty of headlines off the field.

The relationship between the 73-year-old and Hudson has generated plenty of interest and drama, aside from Belichick going 4-8 in his first season at UNC and repeated questions about whether he would leave the football program. Belichick ended up making major staff changes after the season.
Hudson created waves earlier this year when she stepped in during a “CBS Sunday Morning” interview when Belichick was asked how the pair met, creating weeks of headlines.
More recently, she has been in a back-and-forth with investigative sports journalist Pablo Torre – at one point claiming she would sue him – and last month The Post reported that Jen Belichick, the daughter-in-law of Bill – went on a nearly hour-long rant in the coach’s office about Hudson and how she was “f–king twisting” Belichick’s brain.
Atlanta, GA
Security tightened for Hanukkah celebrations across metro Atlanta after Sydney mass shooting
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Dozens of Hanukkah celebrations across metro Atlanta will go on as scheduled this week.
Security is now top priority following the brutal shooting that killed 15 people at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.
“Of course the minute the news came out from Australia we were in touch with our law enforcement partners,” said Renee Kutner, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. “We went back through the plans. We amped them up where we needed to. People will see extra patrols around, not because there’s threats but because we just want to make sure everybody knows that they’re safe.”
The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta says it spends millions of dollars every year securing its community against antisemitic attacks.
“We are so blessed to have really, really great relationships with law enforcement at every level across metro Atlanta and throughout Georgia,” Kutner said. “And we’ve been in contact with all of them. They are so supportive and they will be at our events – they will amp up the security.”
According to Kutner, the heightened security is out of an abundance of caution.
“We have no credible threats, no reason to believe that lone actors somewhere else will affect anything here, and we want to give our community the chance to celebrate,” Kutner said.
RELATED COVERAGE:
Australia to tighten gun laws after Bondi Beach Hanukkah massacre leaves 15 dead
Bystander shown in videos disarming gunman during Australian beach shooting commended for bravery
Father and son gunmen kill at least 15 people in attack on Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach
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Atlanta, GA
Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers Announce Starting Lineups For Tonight’s Game
The Hawks would love to forget Friday’s embarrassing loss to the Detroit Pistons.
After an entertaining first quarter, Atlanta was dominated over the final three quarters and ended up losing by 27 points to the top team in the Eastern Conference. They are hoping for a quick bounce back today at home vs Philadelphia and will could use a win to get back on track.
The game is getting closer to tipoff and both teams have announced their starting lineups:
Hawks
G-Nickeil Alexander-Walker
G- Dyson Daniels
F- Zaccharie Risacher
F- Jalen Johnson
C- Onyeka Okongwu
76ers
G- Quentin Grimes
G- VJ Edgecombe
F- Paul George
F- Dominick Barlow
C- Joel Embiid
Deeper look at Atlanta
When previewing the game this morning, our own Rohan Raman took a deeper look at the Hawks’ advanced numbers today:
“Atlanta’s offense has been surprisingly solid without Trae Young, but the Pistons game was a poor showing. The Hawks are 12th in points, 10th in FG%, 10th in 3P%, 17th in FT%, 25th in rebounds (24th in OREB, 22nd in DREB), 1st in assists, and 18th in turnovers per game. They’re 16th in offensive rating this year.
On a per-game basis, the Hawks’ defense rank 21st in points allowed, 18th in FG% allowed, 9th in 3P% allowed, 23rd in rebounds allowed, 4th in steals, and 12th in blocks. They’re 14th in defensive rating on the year, which puts them in a slightly above-average tier despite their recent run of poor performance on end.
Philadelphia is still figuring out how their offense operates when everyone is healthy, but Tyrese Maxey is always dangerous and they quietly have a reasonably deep roster. They’re 16th in points, 24th in FG%, 17th in 3P%, 6th in FT%, 9th in rebounds (10th in OREB, 9th in DREB), 20th in assists, and 11th in turnovers per game. They’re 15th in offensive rating this season.
After a difficult night against a tough Detroit defense, the matchup gets slightly easier against the 76ers. Even so, they’ve been playing good defense as of late – albeit against poor competition. They are 12th in points allowed, 8th in FG% allowed, 8th in 3P% allowed, 21st in rebounds allowed, 19th in steals, and 2nd in blocks. They’re 9th in defensive rating, so this would be the second straight game for the Hawks against a top-ten defense by defensive rating.”
Because they are at home and will have the best player on the floor, I like the Hawks to win this game. Quentin Grimes is someone who has given the Hawks trouble before, and rookie VJ Edgecombe has had a great start to his career. Still, I like Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu to lead the Hawks to a win today at home.
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