Standoff suspect faces district court charges

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  • Standoff suspect faces district court charges
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A Weatherford man who is allegedly responsible for a standoff in an apartment complex near Jiffy Trip has a preliminary hearing conference scheduled for February 5.

Erik White, of Flint, Texas, was arrested for charges of three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of obstructing an officer, according to information issued by Custer County district court.

Weatherford Police responded to a reported man with a knife in the 900 Block of Delarice. When officers arrived they were directed to a second-story apartment. Once there, officers found a man and woman arguing, police said.

The man allegedly had a knife in his hand and was screaming and threatening the woman. The man later was identified as Erik White. Officers got the female outside and told Erik to drop the knife, police said.

White allegedly had a knife in each hand and advanced on the officers screaming for the officers to kill him. The officers were on an upstairs balcony with limited space, according to court records

Officers were able to slide a couch in front of the open door to create a physical barrier between themselves and Erik, police said.

He allegedly kept screaming for officers to kill him and Erik also threatened to kill the officers according to reports. Officers evacuated the apartment building and then went back to the ground floor to create distance and try to deescalate the situation, police said.

The man remained inside the apartment for several minutes. Erik allegedly came back out and walked down the stairs toward the officers screaming for them to kill him. Officers ordered the man to stop several times and backed up as much as possible, police said.

When Erik neared the bottom of the stairs, officers fired non-lethal bean bag rounds, striking Erik in the chest area. Erik went back upstairs and into the apartment, police said.

Later officers were able to start talking to Erik and convinced him to come outside unarmed and surrender. Erik came outside unarmed, walked down the stairs but allegedly physically resisted when officers attempted to take him into custody. Erik was medically cleared and taken to the Custer County Jail, police said.