Three Gateway Center

2012 hostage incident

On the morning of September 21, 2012, 22-year-old military veteran Klein Michael Thaxton (who reportedly had a criminal record, and was believed to be carrying a gun and two duffel bags) stormed into a 16th-floor office of CW Breitsman Associates and took a male hostage while letting at least two females go. Police believed a male hostage was targeted because Thaxton was believed to have asked for a particular male. Pittsburgh Police, with the assistance of the Allegheny County Sheriff and Port Authority of Allegheny County police, closed off surrounding streets, as well as closing the buildings plaza and the Gateway Center Subway Station for the five-hour standoff, before successfully resolving the situation. It was confined only to one room in the suite, and no injuries or deaths occurred, as evacuations were minimal and people were still occupying other portions of the skyscraper. Thaxton communicated to friends, family (authorities had brought his mother to the scene), and others though his Facebook page during the first few hours of the standoff, the first documented case of such a hostage situation in history, before police had the page shut down to facilitate negotiations.