No reports yet seem sure of why the Las Vegas stand-off began, but it lasted all through the night and into the early morning of the following day. The ordeal allegedly started when a 22-year-old man barricaded himself and his grandmother in his parents’ home with a sword. Thankfully, when the incident finally came to an end, no one had been killed, though the defendant is now facing assault charges.
Police report that the accused man began threatening his parents with a samurai-type sword on the evening of Jan. 8. After the police arrived on scene, most members of the household managed to leave the home. The suspect’s 98-year-old grandmother did not.
Negotiators and SWAT officers reportedly worked for over seven hours in attempts to get the suspect to surrender peacefully and come outside without anyone getting injured. Eventually, SWAT officers decided to try to enter the building. It was at this point that the suspect purportedly ran outside brandishing the sword in the direction of the police offers before taking off running.
Officers chased the man and arrested him a short time later with only minor injuries. The defendant is now facing one count of resisting an officer and two counts of assault, apparently for coming toward the police with the weapon in his hand. The fact that the accused man did not, the evidence suggests, actually attack anyone, and the fact that he attempted the entire ordeal with what is being jokingly referred to as a “samurai sword” could potentially be used by Las Vegas defense counsel in his favor. It may be possible to argue that the accused never intended to hurt anyone, and could call his mental state and capacity to stand trial into question in attempt to negotiate a plea bargain.
Source: news3lv.com, “Sword-wielding suspect arrested after long standoff“, Sergio Avila, Craig Fiegener and Phillip Moyer, Jan. 9, 2017