A man is in custody this after the Paris Police Department’s SWAT team responded to a hostage situation around 1:26 a.m. this morning.
“Paris Police received a call from a female who advised she was needing help but couldn’t say much,” said Officer Curtis Garrett. “During the call, dispatchers could hear an argument between a male and the female.”
Officers responded to the location and attempted contact with the residents of the apartment.
Garret said a male voice from the apartment answered refusing to open the door and telling the officers to leave.
“It was during this first contact officers also heard a female scream from inside the department and attempts to enter the apartment were not successful.”
Officers continued to keep a dialog going with the male in the apartment. An attempt was made to enter the apartment by kicking the door which was not successful.
“Officers began a dialog with the people inside the apartment asking for someone to come out or allow them to come in for about 30 minutes.”
The department’s SWAT and Negotiating Team were summoned to the scene and around 2:04 a.m., the male in the apartment called 9-1-1 asking to speak with a negotiator.
Information was gained that the female and two children were inside the apartment and the suspect was armed with a knife
and threatening to kill her.
“Once the teams were on scene, negotiations took place for some time and at one point involved a family member of the suspect,” said Garrett. “The suspect agreed to come out and was taken into custody without further incident around 3:38 a.m.”
The children were not injured during this ordeal.
Trenton D. Runels, 36 of Paris was charged with felony charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon involving family violence, unlawful restraint of a person under 17, and unlawful restraint. (No mugshot available at this time)
