SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. – A SWAT standoff in Spokane Valley Sunday highlighted a dangerous situation for authorities.
Officials said a woman was being held hostage by a domestic violence suspect. Authorities said hostage situations are some of the most rare and tense situations faced by police. Luckily, this situation ended peacefully.
Officials said the woman was being held by her boyfriend after they had an altercation. They said the man refused to come out and would not let his girlfriend leave.
Authorities said they try to appeal to the suspect's emotions in cases like this. They said they looked into the suspect's background and used things from his past to try to appeal to him. They said it is a standard practice. The real challenge is getting into the home because authorities have no idea what kind of situation they will face.
"You don't know what weapons are inside the house. You don't know if they have it booby trapped, if they've boarded doors to prevent us from coming in. At that time, we don't know the condition of the hostage," said Spokane County Sheriff's Lieutenant Jay McNall.
Unlike most SWAT situations, authorities said incidents with hostages are not drawn out because time is extremely important. Authorities bombarded the home in this case as soon as it was possible for them to go in. They said the suspect tried to force his hostage back inside the home but SWAT overtook him before that could happen.
Officials said the suspect is facing charges of Unlawful Imprisonment and Strangulation. The said the hostage in the situation suffered some cuts but is expected to be ok.
