Tense moments Saturday afternoon on the north side where police say a father was holding his 9-year-old son hostage in their home.
It happened at a home near 26th and Fairmount.
When TODAY’s TMJ4 arrived at the scene, several officers were standing outside of the home talking to the suspect from a window.
Negotiators spent hours trying to deescalate the situation until eventually, fearing for the safety of the child, they moved in.
A couple of loud booms could be heard coming from the home, and an officer walked out carrying a child.
The child had been in the house with his father, who police say suffers from a mental illness.
Police say started earlier in the day with a confrontation in the home between the man, his mother, and his brothers. The adult family members left the home, except for the 30-year-old man who stayed in side with his son. Neighbors heard him shout that he planned to cut out the boy's heart.
"He was armed with several things. At one point he did cut the screen out of the front window with a large kitchen knife, looked to be about an 8- to 10-inch bladed knife," said Milwaukee Police Inspector Jutiki Jackson.
“At several points he had the child in his arms and threatened to kill him, and officers on the scene just regular district patrol officers, were able to start the communication process, and tried to work through the situation to de-escalate any confrontation that was going to take place.”
The father was placed under arrest. Charges are pending.
