Man holds mother hostage, shoots at Hillsborough County deputies during 10-hour standoff, sheriff’s office says
RIVERVIEW, Fla. (WFLA) — A man held his mother hostage and shot at Hillsborough County deputies during a 10-hour standoff at a Riverview apartment complex, according to the sheriff’s office.
Hillsborough County deputies said they were called to the Allegro Palm apartments around 9:26 p.m. Thursday for a domestic disturbance-related call.
When deputies got to the scene, they made contact with a family member who told them that 29-year-old Najah Strickland had barricaded himself in an apartment and was holding his mother hostage with a gun.
Deputies said they tried to contact Strickland several times but were unable to do so.
HSCO’s SWAT, explosive ordnance disposal and crisis negotiation teams were called to assist. Once on scene, the sheriff’s office said the teams tried to make contact with Strickland through the front door. That’s when they said Strickland fired several shots at the deputies.
A short time later, a SWAT team was able to locate Strickland’s mother in the main bedroom and safely remove her from the apartment through the third-floor bedroom window.
“Our deputies quick thinking and bravery allowed them to rescue an innocent victim from a third-story window,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister. “If our team had not acted swiftly and decisively, this situation could have ended in tragedy.”
Deputies said they made several more attempts to make contact with Strickland, including sending in robots to assess the situation inside the apartment and deploying CS gas to try to get him to surrender.
10 hours later, deputies said Strickland came out of the apartment peacefully. He was then taken into custody.
“I am so proud of the dedication and commitment our team shows at every scene, especially after hours of diligent work and attempts to get this suspect to surrender peacefully,” said Sheriff Chronister. “Our deputy’s calm demeanor and decisive actions ensured the safety of everyone involved.”
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