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A terrifying scene unfolded during the early hours of this morning in Lakewood.
Information is still being gathered. But at this writing, we know that a man allegedly took two women hostage at knifepoint, precipitating a tense standoff involving police that ended with the accused and his victims hospitalized, albeit with non-life-threatening injuries.
According to Lakewood Police Detective Ryan McKone, police received a call at around 2:45 a.m. about a man at an apartment complex on 8220 West 16th Place — and by the time cops arrived, he was reportedly inside a unit with a pair of women he wasn’t allowing to leave.
He used a knife to enforce this edict.
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Before long, officers on the scene were able to establish verbal contact with the man. However, his behavior was so erratic that negotiations failed to resolve the issue. Far from it. According to McKone, some SWAT personnel were at the location, “and the rest of the SWAT team was en route to the call,” when, around 4:30 a.m., “the situation deteriorated very quickly, and the officers there had to force entry before the entire SWAT team arrived.”
The man was soon taken into custody, and the women were rescued — although none of the three emerged unscathed. “It appears that both females suffered stab wounds,” says McKone, although he hastens to add that they weren’t of the potentially lethal variety. Meanwhile, the man was taken to a nearby hospital, for what McKone describes as a “combination” of physical injuries and questions about his mental health.
As of now, McKone says the LPD hasn’t established a positive identification on the suspect. We’ll update this post with that information. In the meantime, look below to see an interactive graphic of the area near the scene. If you have problems seeing the image, click “View Larger Map.”
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More from our Colorado Crimes archive: “Eric Barney accused of holding girlfriend hostage for two months, torturing her.”
