Kent Police arrested a 25-year-old Kent man for investigation of felony assault with a firearm after a five-hour standoff Wednesday evening, Nov. 8 at a strip mall on the East Hill.
Officers were dispatched at about 6:33 p.m. to the Hollywood Nails Salon in the area of 25600 104th Avenue SE in the Kent East Hill Shopping Center regarding a man in the parking lot waiving a gun around and trying to get into the salon, according to a Nov. 10 Kent Police news release. Another 911 caller also reported that they heard gunshots being fired.
Officers arrived within a minute and located the man in front of the Subway next door to the salon. The man had a visible handgun in his front waistband. Concerned for the safety of bystanders and the man, officers did their best to de-escalate the situation and get the man to surrender, according to police. At the same time officers positioned themselves in an effort to contain the man from heading towards other people.
Simultaneously, Valley Communications 911 dispatchers communicated with the employees who had barricaded inside their businesses. The dispatcher advised them to stay inside, get to the back of their business and stay down. Through this communication officers learned that the man had reportedly pointed his gun at a Subway employee prior to officers arriving. They also received information that the man reportedly was likely high on methamphetamine.
The man continued to refuse to surrender to officers. They deployed less lethal munitions, including rubber batons and pepper balls, according to police. The less lethal tools did not effect the man and he continued to refuse to comply with orders from the officers.
Additional resources were called into the situation to assist, including Valley SWAT personnel and negotiators. Once additional resources arrived, officers worked to rescue the employees trapped in their businesses and escorted them to safety.
Negotiations continued for several hours, before the man finally surrendered and was taken into custody without the need to use deadly force, according to police. The incident took nearly five hours to safely resolve.
Officers arrested the Kent man for investigation of felony assault with a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm.Detectives will be completing the investigation and referring the case to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Despite having to endure hours of being barricaded in their businesses, none of the employees were physically injured as a result of the man’s actions.
“Successful de-escalation of dangerous individuals is not always possible,” Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla said in a statement. “The outcome of these potentially lethal encounters is always dictated by the actions of the individual the officers are trying to manage. In this situation, thanks to our highly trained officers (including officers from other jurisdictions), dispatchers, Valley SWAT members and negotiators, we were able to take the man into custody without needing to use deadly force. I could not be prouder of our people or more thankful for the outcome.”.
Talk to us
Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.
To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.
