Father's loss to young son in arm wrestling leads to shooting, 8-hour standoff: Police
A father is in jail after losing an arm wrestling contest to his young son which led to a shooting and an 8-hour standoff with the police.
The incident occurred on July 6 shortly before 1 a.m. in the morning when Boone County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to Florence, Kentucky, about a 20-minute drive southwest of Cincinnati, Ohio, to a report of a person in a home with a weapon.
When authorities arrived, they found two family members had vacated the premises safely and were unharmed but 55-year-old Curtis Zimmerman was still inside the home and refused commands to come out, according to a statement by the Boone County Sheriff’s Office.
“Deputies learned that Zimmerman was intoxicated and challenged his juvenile son to an arm-wrestling contest,” said Boone County Sheriff’s Office. “When Zimmerman lost multiple times, he became agitated which led to a physical altercation with his son.”
Zimmerman then reportedly grabbed a gun and fired two shots in the house as his son was going upstairs.
It is not known if Zimmerman was aiming at his son, whose identity and age -- other than that he has been identified as a juvenile by authorities -- has not been disclosed, but he would later tell authorities that he fired the shots into the ceiling, according to the Boone County Sheriff's Office.
The suspect subsequently refused to listen to orders from the police to come out of the house which resulted in an 8-hour standoff with authorities.
The Boone County Sheriff's Office said that Zimmerman was the only person inside the home during the standoff.
The Boone County Sheriff’s Office Hostage Negotiation Team spoke with Zimmerman throughout the morning and ultimately negotiated his safe surrender approximately 8 hours later at 8:25 a.m. on the morning of July 6.
The suspect was then taken into custody without incident by members of the Boone County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team and the Florence Police Department SWAT Team.
Zimmerman was transported to St. Elizabeth in Florence to be evaluated and once he is medically cleared from the hospital, he will be placed under arrest on one count of Wanton Endangerment in the First Degree, a Class D Felony, and taken to the Boone County Detention Center.
The arrest warrant for Zimmerman lists a $5,000 cash bond, according to the Sheriff, and it is unclear whether Zimmerman has hired an attorney.
