OAK GROVE, Mo. — A teenager held a Jackson County SWAT team and Oak Grove police at bay Wednesday afternoon. The standoff near Southwest Seventh Street finally ended peacefully after officers took the young man into custody.
Only FOX 4 was there when more than a dozen SWAT team members armed with rifles and Oak Grove police officers descended on the neighborhood. They quickly surrounded a small house on Southwest Seventh Street where police say a 17-year-old boy was inside, allegedly making threats and possibly holding his mother hostage.
“It was crazy. I pulled up to my house and I was told that it wasn’t safe,” said neighbor Emily Craig.
Police immediately blocked off several surrounding streets, and ordered Craig and other neighbors to stay back or inside their homes.
“And then I sat in my car. I didn’t know if it was safe to get out because I saw all these big guns,” Craig said.
The SWAT team and officers slowly and carefully moved in. They took their time because they weren’t sure if the young suspect had any guns or not. Craig goes to school with the teen.
“I don’t really see him much outside of his house. All I know is I don’t associate with him,” she said.
“We didn’t have much contact with him before,” Oak Grove Police Chief Bryon Price said.
After almost a half-hour, police finally talked the boy out of the house without incident, which was a big relief for cops and neighbors.
“That’s the objective you want is for it to end peacefully,” Chief Price said.
“I didn’t want anybody to be hurt. I didn’t know what was going on,” Craig said.
Police say they have been called to the house before and right now the teenager is in custody.