By Nancy Yang and Frederick Melo,
The Pioneer Press, St. Paul
EAGAN, Minn. — A 30-year-old man was arrested after he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend and then holed up inside her Eagan home with her three young children and a gun, threatening to shoot police.
The hourlong standoff ended at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday without incident, and the children were found inside unharmed.
“They slept through the ordeal in the house,” police officer Danielle Anselment said.
Ray Shantell Walker was taken to the Dakota County jail in Hastings on probable charges of domestic assault. Bail was set at $6,000.
Walker’s girlfriend’s mother called police to the 3200 block of Valley Ridge Drive at 11:23 p.m. Tuesday.
A woman who fled the residence said Walker had assaulted her and threatened to shoot the officers if they went inside.
According to Anselment, about 15 to 20 officers were called to the scene, including the Eagan SWAT team, crisis negotiators and a police canine unit.
About an hour later, police arrested Walker when he left the home voluntarily. They found a handgun in the house.
Eagan police will be working with the Dakota County attorney’s office to determine appropriate charges.
According to the police and court records, Walker’s previous convictions in Minnesota include third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor in 1995; unlawful possession of a weapon in 1996; a felony drug charge in 2003; and failure to register as a predatory offender in 2007.
Copyright 2007 Pioneer Press