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Jed Boal ReportingA man upset with his grandmother threatened to kill her and anyone who came after him, then barricaded himself in a basement in Holladay this afternoon.
The 23-year-old man held off police for more than four hours. Children at Cottonwood Elementary, down the street, were in lock down and had to be picked up by their parents.
Police still won't say exactly why this man forced a stand-off with SWAT teams at a home in the 6000 block of Holladay Blvd. He threatened his grandmother with a knife and holed up in the basement until hostage negotiators convinced him to surrender.
Sgt. Rosie Rivera, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office: “He actually got into a fight with his grandmother and made some threats to her that he would kill her or anybody else that came into the home to take him out of the home."
That was shortly before noon. The grandmother is licensed to care for elderly patients in the home. Four patients, the grandmother and a staff member were safely evacuated early in the stand-off. Negotiators talked with the man on the phone for a couple of hours.
Sgt. Rosie Rivera: “In these situations time is on our side. We try to continually talk to them."
It worked. One deputy told us the man had a run-in with police a few weeks ago on charges of growing marijuana, but there's no official motive for the stand-off. Police have not said whether they found any weapons inside, but took every precaution.
Sgt. Rosie Rivera: “It took a lot of people to make this safe today."
Neighbors we with spoke with were surprised to learn there was an elderly care facility at the home, and did not know the man.
