SWAT team breaks up apartment standoff

There was a tense situation in southwest Houston last night when a father held his wife and their newborn son hostage for several hours. Details are still relatively scarce, but here are the basics: According to police, the man was drinking at the Scottwood Aparemtnts near Edgemoor and Alder at about 9:30 p.m. when he picked up a knife and threatened to kill his wife and 3-week-old son. KTRK reports the man was beating his wife, too; though it's not clear exactly how, police found out what was going on and were dispatched to the apartment complex. When they arrived, officers tried to get the man to open the door to the apartment, but he refused.

The SWAT team was called in and tried to negotiate with the man, but they didn't have any luck. "We brought in our negotiators and we tried to talk to him for several hours to try to get him out; to let the wife and baby leave. But he said he would kill them and kill himself and wouldn't come out," SWAT team member A.J. Mihalco told Channel 13. The woman reportedly tried to leave the apartment several times, but the man blocked the door. Eventually, police took advantage of one of the times she tried to open the door — while the door was unlocked, they rushed in and subdued the man using beanbag guns and Tasers. He was arrested and now faces kidnapping and assault charges.