Bodycam: Va. Police Take Down Man with Hostage in Tense Standoff

Newly released body camera footage captured Virginia police saving a woman who was taken hostage during a tense standoff situation at a home last month. 

The incident happened just before 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 when Richmond police responded to a report of a man threatening a person with a knife, WRIC-TV reports. When officers reached the scene, they heard a scream from inside the house, and they entered.

In the 9-1-1 call to police, a caller said the suspect's work supervisor had called to say the man—identified as Kyle Harris—was suffering a mental health crisis and threatened an individual with a knife. A neighbor told police that Harris had cut power to the residence he was in, and a family member allowed officers to enter the home.

At the apartment's entrance, police began talking to Harris, who refused to come to the front door and told officers he would kill someone if they came in.

Police determined there was Harris was holding a woman hostage, and he would not let her come to the door. During the standoff, Harris revealed the woman was his wife.

“I’m talking to her right now, she thinks this is a game, and I’m not playing games tonight,” Harris is heard saying in the video.

Finally, officers begin moving into an apartment hallway just before 8 p.m. to try to reach Harris and the hostage. Police confronted Harris, and he was shot.

Harris was rushed to the hospital, where he died. The woman was taken from the home by officers, and a hatchet was found at the scene.