A SWAT team ended a three-hour standoff with an armed, hostage-taking man Thursday morning when officers moved into his southeast Salt Lake City home and used a Taser to subdue him.
Salt Lake City police Sgt. Shawn Josephson said the 21-year-old female hostage was rescued unharmed. The 59-year-old suspect was found armed with a knife, he said.
SWAT had surrounded the home, in the 1200 block of South Windsor and near Liberty Park, about 4:30 a.m. Another woman, believed to be the suspect’s girlfriend and the mother of the hostage, had escaped the house and fled to a neighbor’s home. The neighbor called 911.
Josephson said the woman sustained serious head injuries, apparently from a blow with an unspecified object, and was hospitalized.
The suspect allegedly told police he would kill his remaining hostage if officers approached the home, so SWAT negotiators spent hours on the phone with the man trying to get him to surrender before the decision was made to end the standoff.
During the incident, police cordoned off the area and restricted traffic on 800-900 East and 1300 South.
The suspect was booked into Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of first-degree felony aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault, a third-degree felony. Bail was not immediately set.
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