Hostage negotiations to free wife and daughter of stabbing victim was a full day’s work, reports say

REAL NEWS: A man continues to assist the Police with investigations into what reportedly can be described as an unprovoked hostage situation on Sunday night, October 29.

Reports say the incident lasted for what is considered a full workday, over eight hours.

REAL News learned that the matter of unlawful confinement was reported to the All Saints Police Station by a 911 emergency operator after a relative of the victims telephoned the hotline.

As a result, several senior officers, including from the “C” Division, the Special Surveillance Unit, and the Criminal Investigations Department left for the scene at Ferris Farm.

Accompanying them were soldiers from the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force and men from the Office of National Drug Control and Money Laundering Policy (ONDCP).

A source says the hostage situation began at about 9:20 p.m. on Sunday and ended at 5:45 a.m. on Monday, October 30.

Reports say that a Bendals man had stabbed his employer and then held the man’s wife and eight-year-old daughter at knifepoint.

The perpetrator allegedly had barricaded himself and his hostages inside a bathroom and was refusing to release them.

However, after a police corporal from the Surveillance Unit had engaged the suspect for several consecutive hours –until almost midnight – he released the child, who was handed over to relatives.

The negotiations continued, with a female superintendent also attempting to persuade the suspect to release the second hostage and surrender.

Reportedly, this lasted for several more hours until about 5:45 a.m.

At that time, the officers got the suspect to unlock the bathroom door, and he agreed to release the hostage and give up himself.
However, allegedly at the last minute, the man changed his mind.

But before he was able to close the door, two male corporals managed to force their way into the bathroom.

They quickly secured the hostage and disarmed the suspect, who
was subsequently taken into custody.

Reports say that neither of the females had any signs of physical injury; however, the Bendals suspect had cuts on his T-shirt, along with what are said to be superficial wounds to the chest, both hands, and one wrist.

He was later transported to the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre for medical assessment.

His employer, the stabbing victim, was also treated at the medical facility and was kept overnight for observation. His injuries are not life threatening.

It is alleged that the suspect was at his employer’s home on Sunday night, sometime after 9 p.m., when his boss decided to take him home.

Further allegations say that after they got into the vehicle and were about to leave, the Bendals man made a certain statement, after which the employer felt a sharp pain to his upper right rib cage and realized he was bleeding.

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