two officers arrive on the scene of an ordinary disturbance call a man is threatening his neighbors however in just a moment the situation will escalate into something much worse does he have any knives any knives guns have gun the suspect is armed hey we're going to block the main entrance right here my neighbor threaten to me threaten me threat police I have it on video we have deployed a SWAT team on route to step out slow shot out move move on March 11th 2023 a peaceful morning descended into chaos in Steel Creek Charlotte as one
man began a campaign of Terror that has put an entire neighborhood in danger but to understand how police got this schizophrenic man under control we need to take a look at every tactic and technique the SWAT team used throughout the 30-hour standoff it started at 6:45 a.m. on Saturday morning when on Thai walked into his front garden megaphone in hand and threatened to kill his neighbors on Grier Fork Drive the clock started immediately when 911 started receiving calls from some of those neighbors my neighbors threatened me threaten to kill me threaten to kill police I
have it on video we're scared okay and when you say he's threatening you he you doing in person on the phone phone with a megaphone he's out in front of his yard Charlotte 911 I need police I need to file communicating threats report I'm working with cmpd um crisis response team and um our neighbor is threatening us currently community polic and crisis response team helps mediate disputes between neighbors and can often settle arguments without having to call 911 they specialize in people who have behavioral problems or those with substance abuse and they've been involved with
Tai on no less than 13 other occasions after his threatening behavior towards his neighbors unfortunately this situation is much too serious for the cmpd this time and the police have to step in for what will be their 47th interaction with Tai he's at the door on a megaphone yelling what one here we go good morning door has a warrant for his arrest I don't know because I'm we have to take him does he have any knives any knives guns he have gun fit the gun have the SI six yeah uh revolver yeah he has that
yeah we're going to try to get out of his range in case he shoots he can't see us to shoot in order to make sure the cops have the right information they're going to need to break down the language barrier so her daughter is soon on the phone helping to translate for the officers ensuring the cops can properly assess the gravity of the situation without second guessing themselves who is this my oh hello hello hi hey this is Officer Miller with Charlotte Police we're just trying to clarify what the language barrier for your mom but
um an has a order for his arrest to go to jail she's advising that he has what we can best tell is a revolver a gun I just want to confirm that he does have that with your mom if you if you can ask her if he does have a gun yes yes of course all right go ahead so she says that he does have a revolver in his does he have bullets in the revolver is it loaded yes loaded she was trying to explain another um possible weapon and I couldn't understand what she was
saying so can you ask her if he has any other weapons that's he has a basb bag and what kind dog does he have there's two dogs in there um he like a mediumsized dog and the other one is like a small now the cops have a much better picture of what they're facing they know that Tai has a gun and it's loaded they suspect he has a dog in there with him and although the mother claims it won't bite these cops can't take any chances Ty also has a warrant out for his arrest for
communicating threats in another incident making this a criminal barricade the difference between between a criminal barricade and a non-criminal barricade is simple a non-criminal barricade usually means a suspect isn't wanted for a crime and is often a case of a suicidal suspect a criminal barricade means the suspect is wanted for a crime is a possible danger to others and needs a drastically different approach these cops don't have access to the resources this kind of response will need and SWAT is called in to take over this standoff SWAT has an arsenal of armored vehicles at their
disposal as well as riot shields expert negotiators and specific training to deal with this exact kind of situation but just because SWAT has been called doesn't mean the negotiations sto there as police continue to try and convince Ty to hand himself in while they wait for the team to arrive Mr Ty this is Charlotte mcber Police Department we're outside Mr Ty I need you to come outside we're not going anywhere we need you to step outside with your hands up Ty already has a warrant out for his arrest for communicating threats in another incident and
police know he's highly strong potentially violent and extremely unpredictable if they're going to talk him out of the house they're going to have to convince him there's no danger it it would help me understand this a lot better if we were talking face to face dude are you gonna kill me no that I'm not are you gonna put me in handcuffs yes I will have to put you in handcuffs you're not going to let me back to my house you're take me somewhere far away listen you you do have a warrant yes for communicating threats
okay that's why we're here yes and I can change my identity we have to serve that warrant okay that's just me my name is King I'm not in the business of lying okay I don't want to lie to you I don't want to steer you in the wrong direction all right the trouble that you're in is very minor okay it's not a big deal by reassuring him that he won't be hurt if he surrenders The Negotiator can try to prevent the situation escalating or even turning violent during negotiations like these police will try to deescalate
the situation and keep the suspect as calm as possible but in this case Tai seems so unhinged that there's no way they can make him see reason if things deteriorate any further it's possible Tai might make good on his threats and this situation could turn deadly nobody wants to kill you I promise you that I do not want to harm you and no officer out here wants to hurt you that I can promise you Take Me Alive no nobody wants to harm you and we don't want you to harm yourself all right This Is War
dude you my door this is not war everyone right no we do not want you to hurt yourself it seems peaceful negotiations aren't working as no matter what the negotiator tries Tai just won't cooperate become uh very consistent that he will not leave that home it's just circles circles circles man like it's uh it always yeah it always circles back around to I'm going to K myself or you're going to kill me period I'm not coming out of this house I'm going to die today with Tai armed barricaded in his house and threatening to kill
people the police need to keep him calm and deescalate the situation until backup arrives shortly afterwards the SWAT team finally arrives at the scene to bring this standoff to an end hey get your people ready and have a he ready want me to trying to push the robot up see if I can get over [Music] stuff the SWAT team finally at the scene they can get a better look at their surroundings by sending in robots and drones but they first need to find the best place to gain entry into the house which in this case
is right through the front door 239 or I will call you I just need you to answer your phone this is very important nobody is here to hurt you we are only here to help your mother's worried about you we are here to make sure that you get the help you need by breaching the door the SWAT team is trying to see inside the house if Tai isn't willing to negotiate then SWAT may have to force their way inside and face Tai in his own home but this just agitates Ates Tai further and he closes
the door in defiance once again SWAT has no idea what's waiting for them inside so they decide to break down the door again only this time they intend to rip it right off its hinges although this has made it easier for SWAT to enter the house the negotiator's job is about to get even harder as breaching the door has only agitated Tai further and this standoff is threatening to spiral out of control I want to myself I'm not going to be here and be by godd I don't even leave me alone let me control the
voice literally the voice is controlling me man you are stronger than that I'm you controlled the voice listen I have faith that you can control that voice okay okay then let me do it get this voice out go to no don't let that Voice win I have no control over my mind dude I'm telling you I'm under mind control you are stronger than that okay you can do it and I we can help you this could be some kind of manic episode Ty is experiencing as he's definitely not of sound mind especially when he's talking
about voices controlling him he's angry that his mother's front door has been destroyed and the cops know they've made him mad their priority is to try and deescalate the situation so they try and convince him they'll fix the door after he hands himself in but Tai's reaction is not what the cops were hoping for I I spent an hour telling you that was going to happen can't live here no more the door can easily be fixed po it's only me my mother who's going to take care of your mother if you harm yourself I'm not
let you take me alive I can give your mother a number to our risk management and our risk management can help fix the door okay and we all know that like no body's hurt nobody said you're acting like an idiot listen well you act like an idiot BR my door and I told you we were going to do it he hang up on you we're now 5 hours into this standoff and the house is completely surrounded on the sidelines police are trying to obtain an involuntary commitment order these are issued to individuals who are experiencing
mental health problems that impair their ability to reason this would be the third time on taii has been issued with an involuntary commitment in order but despite how serious the situation is they still can't enter the house without a search warrant this is often a long process but in this case it only took a couple of hours after convincing a judge the warrant was absolutely necessary to help bring this standoff to an end so now 8 hours into this standoff and with the search warrant in hand SWAT started their meticulous operation to clear any obstacles
from their path a process they call tactical breaching you be trying to rule my house you have no legal right tactical breaching is more than just breaking down windows and doors as it allows easy access to the house and allows police to see inside the house but it's still not safe for the officers to enter the house as Tai is still hiding and armed with a Gun there's only one way to see inside the house without putting lives at risk by using the latest technology to their advantage like drones and robots all right we're going
to send we're sending the robot in up the steps if you can get run all the time I'm in the living room so I had to go through the garage okay all right sir well hope you'll get the Drone up so this is what the living room looks like police robots have been around for decades but are limited to low ground with thae hiding upstairs police need to utilize one of the newer members of the team the Drone first developed for military purposes drones have become increasingly more popular with police departments all across America just
like here in Charlotte I'm doing what I can to push all through robot's in the laundry room a lot of junk though trying to push the stuff out the wayar to she's got to go all the way around drones can reach places people can't and give police a bird's eye view of the upstairs of the house without a single officer being put In Harm's Way it also shows how quickly a situation can go from quiet to dangerous in the blink of an I I could try to push it through the front door but I can't
promise anything that drone has just been destroyed but now police know exactly which room he's hiding out in after a second drone is destroyed Tai suddenly appears at the front door of the house and he's armed with a handgun what he might not realize is he's in the targets of several Sharpshooters who are scattered around the area with various views of the house ready to fire if Tai presents a threat to them their fellow officers or anyone else in the area he's trying to put the door back up it looks like gun in his left
hand shot out shot he went back up the steps that was just a warning shot after one of the Sharpshooters perceived Tai to be a genuine threat but the warning shot did its job and Tai retreated back into the house after he returned upstairs he called 911 initially claiming he'd been shot it turns out he was lying but during the same call he told police he was no longer on tie and had become Lucifer 911 I saw the police shot uh a person because he was holding a gun reping at police and the police shot
him he's dead I need to make a police report okay well where you at so we can make that report I'm in heaven oh okay go yes my name is Lucifer this was one of four different personalities he's taken on over the course of this standoff and in order to keep him talking police will play along and call him Lucifer but any hopes that they have of ending this standoff before nightfall are slipping away as negotiations come to a standstill this is Lucifer can I help you Lucifer yeah this is Hong you okay I know
you are yeah I'm an angel of God I want to help you Lucifer Lucifer where are you went Tai may be in need of the kind of medical help that these cops can't give him but that doesn't make the situation any less dangerous it's now 10 hours into this standoff and the Tactical breaching continues two vehicles in the driveway are removed to prevent the suspect from making a quick getaway and more windows are breached around the house as the standoff goes into the night where Tai continues with his bizarre exchanges with negotiators take all out
I'm tell you I'm an anarchy I don't met nothing you leave get out of my house I don't need it to leave stop talking to be okay I don't talk to the police yeah stand by I don't need the Poli open kind of looking out talk you are doing is illegal I have the right to practice religion leave me alone this incident has now been going on for over 13 hours and tactical breaching has removed most of the doors and windows negotiations continued into the next morning but they couldn't get tied to give himself up
so SWAT turned to their arsenal of other tactics to continue the effort to bring this stand off to an end peacefully including the smoke grenade all right ready [Music] [Music] kind of whass throw was that smoke grenades can help create a visual barrier and disorient a suspect the sudden sharp sensory overload can lower the suspect's will to resist and encourage them to surrender peacefully but the SWAT team isn't done yet and decides to enter the house to cut the power off good y all right move sh [Applause] this tactic serves two purposes firstly it solves
some of these safety concerns as electrical equipment and lights will be deactivated to prevent accidental fires or explosions especially when the suspect has Firearms with the house now a complete wreck a small fire could prove disastrous and engulf the whole house in minutes cutting the power also adds psychological pressure as removing electrical equipment the suspect may be using could leave them feeling isolated and alone especially during the night but despite their best efforts Tai refused to leave the house at all and it was starting to look like this standoff might never end but then at
1:18 p.m. an hour after they cut the power Tai was seen coming downstairs this is the moment SWAT tried to bring this stand off to an end with the help of OC powder chemical munition better known as tear gas the effects of tear gas on the body included unbearable burning sensation in your eyes nose and on your skin this is exactly the kind of experience that was waiting for Tai if he went back upstairs where they've just fired it for the first time since this 30-hour standoff began this prompted Tai to come out of the
house and confront SWAT face to face police will always try to achieve a peaceful resolution in cases like these but as they have been for the last two days they'll be ready to shoot if Tai opens fire I got you I got you I promise you're good come on yeah stay on the phone you can stay on the phone come to us come on no no come on you're good come on come on Sirah I got you come on to me just be careful you're good come on yep keep walk yeah come on you keep
keep walking you're good bring the dog with you come on myg oh we're not Brother come on yeah your dog's good come on okay yep hey I'll take over a veral so you can make a call on the other side keep coming to usot we're not going to shoot you you keep coming to us you're doing good just you're fine keep walking towards us keep your hands ready you're good you're good we see your dog we see your phone you're good auntie keep walking towards us brother you're you're doing good can we move he's facing
away banging and move move move get on the ground I'm coming don't kill my dog I'm coming I'm coming don't kill my dog please I'm coming my back that's the handgun he'd been concealing in his clothing and could have been used at any moment this is a perfect example of a SWAT team who did everything by the book and achieved their goal of a peaceful arrest it may have taken 30 hours for this to end but by choosing the right moment they brought this neighborhood's ordeal to an end with only one bullet fired and zero
casualties
