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Tag: SWAT

  • Two-Year-Old Held Hostage In Rapid City, SWAT Team Called On Scene

    On Tuesday, a two-year-old boy was held hostage by a burglar in Rapid City. The authorities were alerted of a burglary at 4pm, but the suspect fled to a nearby house where he took the two-year-old boy hostage.

    Reports indicate that several children and adults were able to escape, but Raymond Cuny held the two-year-old boy captive. Police reports say that Cuny has no relation to the boy or to any of the people living in the house where he fled.

    A special response team was immediately called to the scene. SWAT teams and armored vehicles surrounded the home and the streets were blocked off. The authorities also put up fences and they prepared themselves to storm into the home. Officers in an armored car used a loudspeaker to talk to Cuny. They asked the suspect to give himself up, but their negotiations with the suspect were unsuccessful.

    On Rapid City Police Department’s Twitter, a post said, “Suspect refusing to come out, has small child in the residence with him. Police believe suspect is armed.”

    The standoff lasted for six hours, and by 10:30 pm the police went into the home and used distraction techniques in order to grab the two-year-old child. Afterwards, police chief Karl Jegeris announced the successful operation on Twitter. “Baby rescued and safe. Suspect in custody. All officers and deputies are safe,” he tweeted. The standoff ended without a single bullet being fired.

    Reports indicate that the child has been returned to his mother and that he was not harmed during the incident.

    In a statement, Jegeris said, “I am extremely proud of the Special Response Team and their heroic efforts.”

    Cuny was arrested on suspicion of second-degree burglary and second-degree kidnapping. He is currently in the custody of authorities at the Pennington County jail and is being held without bond. As of writing, no trial date has been scheduled.

    Image via YouTube

  • SWAT Team Throws Flash Grenade Into Child’s Crib

    One of the initial phases to insure a properly executed raid is to collect as much data on the purported location and its targets:

    ☒ Do methamphetamine transactions take place here?

    ☒ Does the owner have guns?

    ☐ Are there any children?

    At Lakeview Heights Circle in Habersham County, Georgia, Cornelia police conducted a no-knock raid for a drug warrant on the house of meth dealer Wanis Thometheva. According to Sheriff Joey Terrell, the SWAT unit first inserted a flash bang into the home and then pushed the door open. The flash bang exploded inside a playpen blocking the door, next to the face of 19-month-old Bounkham Phonesavanh, WSBTV first reported.

    “He is in a medically induced coma and he is paralyzed. I hope he’s not going to remember this. I know his sisters, his mommy and his daddy will never forget this,” the boy’s mother, Alecia Phonesavanh, said.

    “It landed in his playpen and exploded on his pillow right in his face.”

    The SWAT team, feeling remorseful due to some of them being parents themselves, had no idea that the house included the toddler; there has been no word on whether a thorough background check was initiated before the raid.

    “There were no clothes, there were no toys, there was nothing to indicate that there was children present in the home. If there had been, then we would have done something different,” said Sheriff Joey Terrell.

    The family of the child recently moved into Wanis Thometheva’s home because their house in Wisconsin burned to the ground. Terell noted that the family knew Thometheva was selling methamphetamine in the back of the house, so they kept the child in the main entrance, away from the transactions.

    The child is now in Grady’s burn unit. Phonesavanh said the outlook for her son is bleak, with a 50% chance of living:

    “The nurse explained it to me. His laceration on his chest is pretty deep, down to the muscle. They can’t close it up yet because all of the charring from the explosion.”

    “He still needs help breathing. He’ll need that help for a while. He has a big bruise on his lung from the impact. His lung is useless right now” Phonesavanh added. “As long as we have faith and he’s got lots of love, love will make anybody strong.”

    The family has set up a gofundme site in order to pay for Bounkham’s medical expenses.

    Sheriff Joey Terrell assured that next time they’ll double check before a SWAT operation:

    “Is it going to make us more careful in the next one? Yes m’am, it’s going to make us double question.” Terrell assured.

    Reddit users chimed in on the idea that the police are becoming more and more militarized:

    The DA is currently investigating.

    Images via Reddit, WSBTV, Please Help Baby Bou

  • Inglewood Shootout Suspect Apprehended

    Inglewood Shootout Suspect Apprehended

    An Inglewood, California man, who barricaded himself inside a house after taking two female hostages, surrendered to authorities after an eight-hour standoff on Wednesday. Several shots were fired as officers arrived at a residence on South 5th Avenue at 12:35 p.m., after a call concerning a domestic disturbance.

    The suspect, a 45-year-old male with a criminal record, according to a district attorney’s office, was seen dragging a minor into the house, said to be the 14-year-old daughter of his girlfriend, who was also taken hostage. The hostages were unharmed during the standoff, and were taken to the South Los Angeles Sheriff’s station for questioning.

    When police and SWAT team members arrived on the scene, the suspect claimed he was going to shoot his girlfriend, if the officers didn’t stand down. An exchange of gunfire ensued, and one of the officers was hit in his bullet-proof vest, and suffered blunt force trauma injuries. His partner was also injured during a fall while protecting him, and she suffered minor injuries. Both were taken to Centinela Hospital. The officer shot was then transferred to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where he is listed as being in stable condition.

    After roughly eight hours of negotiations, the suspect surrendered peacefully. LASD Lt. Dave Dolson commented, “Sometimes these things just take time and I guess finally the negotiators built trust with the suspect and he felt like he would be fairly treated and safely taken into custody. He didn’t make any demands. He did what we asked him to do: exit the house unarmed with his hands in the air.”

    Police aren’t yet sure what triggered the hostage situation, and the suspect’s identity has not yet been released.

    In related California news, “revenge porn” is now officially banned in that state.

    Image via Twitter.

  • 107-year-old Man Shot in S.W.A.T. Standoff

    A 107-year-old Pine Bluff, Arkansas man was killed on Saturday after firing at police. According to KATV, the police were responding to a report of aggravated assault when they found themselves in a standoff with the elderly man, Monroe Isadore.

    After a call came in reporting Isadore for allegedly pointing a gun at someone, police responded and tried to negotiate with the man. According to the Pine Bluff Commercial, police were able to get the two people inside the house out safely. After the officers approached a closed bedroom door where they were told Isadore was with a gun, Isadore fired rounds through the door. No one was hit by the shots, and the police called in backup.

    In a statement made by the Pine Bluff Police Department, “negotiations continued for some time and when S.W.A.T arrived, negotiations still continued. S.W.A.T. was able to insert a camera into the room, where Isadore was, and confirmed he was armed with a handgun. S.W.A.T. inserted gas into the room after it was evident negotiations were unsuccessful, in hopes Isadore would surrender peacefully.”

    Isadore began firing his gun again after noticing the gas, which prompted the S.W.A.T. team to shoot and kill him. The Pine Bluff Coroner’s Office said that Isadore had multiple gunshot wounds.

    Despite reports of Isadore firing at law enforcement, some people think that Isadore’s death was unnecessary. A neighbor of Isadore’s, Chelisa Canada, said that the officers didn’t have to kill Isadore and that “they could have done something else.” Canada questions details of the incident, including whether or not Isadore had enough bullets to fire as many rounds as officers are claiming. “I think they went in there with the intention of killing him. He couldn’t have had that many bullets in his gun,” Canada told the Pine Bluff Commercial.

    Reports of the 107-year-old man’s death have set the Twitterverse afire, with some users in agreement with Canada’s belief that the S.W.A.T. team didn’t have to kill Isadore, while others were in shock at the news a centenarian was involved in a shootout.

    Image via YouTube

  • YouTube Rapper Raps About Impending SWAT Team Arrest

    Last year, a Utah man live-Facebooked his own standoff with police and until now that was the craziest use of social media by a guy about to get himself arrested.

    Enter 19-year-old Josh Jackson aka Adequate Advocate, an aspiring rapper who decided to use his talents to rap about the SWAT team that was about to come busting through his door.

    “The police think I’m a fiend…it’s why right now literally they’re outside my house – because my roommates done did it.”

    “Bring the motherf*ckin’ swat team, special weapons and tactics operation…I don’t really give a f*ck because I’m nineteen. And I’m not a criminal, I’m political, and right now…OH SH*T – you heard the blast,” said Jackson moments before his arrest.

    That blast was the sound of a flashbang going off as the SWAT team entered Jackson’s rental property.

    Jackson posted the video on YouTube late Tuesday:

    The SWAT team was after our YouTube MC because his roommates accused him off threatening them with a knife.

    According to police, Jackson has “a history of resisting the police in the past.” He’ll be in court next Tuesday.

    [Coloradoan via The Daily Dot]

  • Imperial Beach Standoff Ends In Arrest

    One of San Diego County’s top 10 most wanted fugitives, 34-year-old Ramiro Espinoza, was arrested today following an approximately eight hour standoff with police.

    The incident began at around 5:00 p.m. Thursday night when the Imperial Beach Swat Sheriff’s Department received a tip that Espinoza was in the area after the report of gunfire. One of the deputies responding to the report in the area approached Espinoza and then Espinoza allegedly jumped over a fence and took off running from the deputy. Jan Caldwell, the Sheriff’s spokeswoman, told reporters that shots were fired by someone other than law enforcement, but they were unsure who pulled the trigger.

    Twenty-two homes were evacuated and searched in effort to locate Espinoza. Residents were asked to go to nearby Mar Vista High School. There, the Red Cross had set up a temporary shelter with food, water and beds for the night. “We saw the helicopters, thought it was excitement, then we heard gunshots,” said Jake Skuze, Imperial Beach resident. “We hit the ground. My niece was really frightened.”

    Espinoza is wanted for attempted murder after allegedly shooting his girlfriend in the face and chest in May 2013 in front of their 4-year-old daughter.. The 5-foot-5, 150-pound Espinoza was wanted on other charges that included: domestic violence, felony assault and being a felon in possession of a weapon. According to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, Espinoza was arrested and taken into custody on the 300 block of Elkwood Avenue at around 1:15 a.m. Friday morning.