SWAT team responds to armed man in Amalga

AMALGA— The small Cache Valley community of Amalga saw its police presence grow exponentially for a few hours Tuesday night as the SWAT team from the Cache County Sheriff’s office responded to a call in the rural town.

A 40-year-old male called his wife shortly before 6 p.m. claiming that he was going to commit suicide. Cache County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Chad Jensen said when officers first arrived to the home – located just North of the LDS chapel in Amalga – the man’s 12-year-old daughter was also inside. She was quickly released, but the armed man barricaded himself inside.

Sheriff’s deputies set up a base of operations at a home about a half-mile South of the one where the man was barricaded, and as many as 10 squad cars were in the area – including unmarked SUVs to transport the SWAT team. At 8:24 p.m. an SUV filled with five members of the SWAT team in full tactical gear headed towards the home.

At that point, Jensen said the team had yet to establish communication with the individual, and didn’t know what to expect.

“He hasn’t really talked to any of us yet, so I don’t really know what the play is right now,” Jensen said at the time.

Eventually, the team was able to make contact with the man and Jensen said things moved quickly from that point. He was taken into custody with no use of force needed shortly before 9 p.m.

“Once negotiations started and we actually made contact with him on the phone he was very cooperative. He was willing to come out and was willing to show his hands and was willing to be handcuffed and then taken into custody,” Jensen said. “That’s the best way to have them end.”

Jensen said that though the man was in custody, it was for his own safety and there would be no criminal charges pending.

“We will take him to the hospital and have him be observed and make sure that he is okay and that he’s going to be okay,” Jensen said.

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