Every year, nearly 3000 children and teens die from gunfire, and nearly 14,000 are injured.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Two children held hostage at gunpoint by father in car chase

A male and his two sons were driving on Interstate 15 in Utah when an officer tried to pull him over for a traffic infraction. What happened next was hours of police chase and hostage situation, where the man held his two sons, one aged 6 or 7, the other a high schooler, hostage at gunpoint, sometimes pointing the gun at his own head.

From the articles HERE and HERE:

This incident began just before 11 a.m. Monday when a La Verkin police officer attempted to stop a car for a traffic infraction. Corporal Todd Johnson of the Utah Highway Patrol said that when the vehicle refused to yield, a chase ensued....

In essence, from what is streaming live on County Dispatch, the suspect is apparently known to have emotional issues, may be paranoid that his ex-wife is going to take his children away from him, but is said to be very attached to his children.

“The two children [were released] and then he surrendered and the three were taken into custody.”

Abbot said that the offender maintained contact with [the] negotiations team and they were able to talk him into peacefully surrendering himself around 8:30 p.m.

The children did not appear to be physically harmed and were taken into the custody of Child Protective Services. “Everything seems to be okay that way,” said Abbott.

The offender was arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility for booking. Abbott said that he would be charged on the traffic violation and evading arrest, with La Verkin Police Department as the arresting agency since they were involved in the incident’s inception.

No determination has been made as to the offender’s mental condition or other factors triggering the day’s episode. Abbot said of investigators developing the case, “they’ll work through all that.”


Luckily, no one was injured.

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