KENNEWICK, Wash.-A welfare check in Kennewick led to the arrest of one man on suspicion of several weapons charges on April 28.
KPD officers responded to the Tradewinds Apartments on the 1500 block of N. Edison Street around 4:25 p.m. for a welfare check after a caller reported hearing an argument inside one of the units.
According to the KPD, around the same time the request for a welfare check came in, the suspect called dispatch and requested help for someone who was sick in the apartment.
While officers responded to a sick man in the living room, the suspect, a 79-year-old man who was standing nearby reportedly became argumentative.
When officers noticed a gun near the suspect they reportedly told him not to touch it and they left the apartment to avoid any escalation of the situation, according to a KPD press release on the incident.
The suspect then went into his room and closed the door and officers re-entered the apartment to continue providing aid to the sick man and to get him to medical personnel outside.
Officers then contacted the suspect in his room by phone and confirmed that he had a shotgun with him.
After it was determined that the suspect was unable to have guns after being convicted of murder in Arizona, as well as assault in Washington, officers obtained a search warrant.
The Tri-Cities Regional SWAT team responded to the situation and nearby apartments were evacuated as law enforcement tried to arrest the suspect.
According to the KPD, the suspect loaded a gun and pointed it at a SWAT drone before damaging the drone with a tool during the standoff.
After ongoing negotiations with the suspect he agreed to place the shotgun outside the bedroom and police recovered it. The suspect was then taken into custody without further incident.
The gun turned out to be stolen, according to the KPD. Another gun and several rounds of ammunition were recovered from the apartment during the execution of the search warrant.
The suspect was booked into the Benton County Jail on suspicion of two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, possessing a stolen firearm, malicious mischief, resisting arrest and obstructing a law enforcement officer.
