Body Camera: Va. State Police. stops a man with an ax during a fierce hostage standoff

Newly released body camera footage captured Virginia police rescuing a woman who was taken hostage last month during a tense domestic situation.

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

During a 9-1-1 call to police, the caller said the suspect’s supervisor called and said the man – identified as Kyle Harris – was suffering from a mental health crisis and had threatened another person with a knife. A neighbor told police that Harris had cut off the power to the apartment he was in and a family member let officers into the house.

At the entrance to the apartment, 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 that Harris was holding the woman hostage and would not allow her to come to the door. During the conflict, Harris revealed that the woman was his wife.

“I’m talking to her now, she thinks it’s just a game and I’m not playing any games tonight,” Harris says in the recording.

Finally, just before 8 p.m., officers begin entering the apartment’s hallway to try to contact Harris and the hostage. Police confronted Harris and he was shot.

Harris was taken to hospital, where he died. Officers took the woman from the house and an ax was found at the scene.