One arrested after standoff at Kennewick apartment

KENNEWICK, Wash.-- One man is in custody after a short stand-off at the Heatherstone Apartments in Kennewick Saturday night.

Sgt. Jason Kiel with the Kennewick Police Department said officers responded to a report of a domestic assault at about 5:30 p.m., where they found a 64-year old woman with a serious head injury.

That's when the woman's 21-year son who was in the apartment busted out a window in the unit, armed himself with a knife, and threatened to harm police officers if they attempted to contact him.

The victim was taken to a local hospital to be treated for her injuries.

Meanwhile, Sgt. Kiel says the man in the apartment armed himself with a second knife, and smoke detectors were sounding as smoke started coming out of the window.

Officers tried to convince the man to surrender, but he continued to shout threats to officers. Several apartment units in the building were evacuated as a precaution.

"We were able to use non-lethal means in coordination with the fire department," Kiel said. "The Kennewick Fire Department used a hose to distract him, then we used less-lethal means-- flash-bangs, tasers, deuces-- and even with that he was not complying. Fortunately one of the projectiles hit one of the knives and broke it."

He sustained some minor injuries and was taken to the hospital to get checked out before being transported to the Benton County Jail for felony assault, and domestic violence.

The victim's condition isn't know.

Sgt. Keil said the fire in the apartment appears to have been in or on the stove, and there is some water damage from the activation of automatic sprinklers. Other nearby units may also have some water damage, but no bystanders were injured.

"You train for these types of circumstances-- they're dynamic situations," Sgt. Kiel said. "The ultimate goal was to detain him with the minimum amount of force possible, and we were able to do that."