Police shot and killed a man in Kent following an alleged hostage situation on Sunday.
Police shot Christopher Carter, 27, at the end of a nine-hour standoff with Kent police at an apartment in the 700 block of Silver Meadows Boulevard.
Amber Weathers, 23, was held as Carter’s alleged hostage. Weathers, who witnesses said was Carter’s girlfriend, was unharmed but placed under arrest on charges from an unrelated warrant, police said.
Police declined to confirm the relationship between Carter and Weathers. It also was unclear if Carter or Weathers lived at the apartment where the incident happened.
“Any relationship between the victim and the suspect will be part of the investigation,” said Lt. Mike Lewis, “but it does not in any way mitigate the fact Ms. Weathers was held at knife point against her will by the suspect.”
The standoff began at about 12:20 p.m. Sunday, when someone told police there was ongoing drug activity in a nearby apartment building.
When police went to investigate, they say Carter barricaded himself inside a basement laundry room with Weathers.
The building was evacuated and a SWAT team was mobilized, police reported.
Negotiators spoke with Carter for about seven hours, police said. Officers rescued the woman at about 9 p.m., they reported.
Friends of Carter maintained vigil outside the apartment building on Monday, stunned at what had transpired.
“This is a messed up situation,” said Drake Longmire-Knotts, of Akron.
He and his friend Gregg Foster said they stood in a crowd outside the apartment for most of the standoff on Sunday. They said they doubted Weathers was a hostage.
The pair said the standoff ended with a loud bang, which they said police told them was a flash grenade. They were confident Carter was alive when the encounter resolved.
“When I got up this morning and saw people saying Chris was dead, I argued with them because I knew he was alive,” said Foster, of Kent. “When I realized he was dead, it brought tears to my eyes.”
The events leading to gunshots are unclear.
Police have declined to release additional information. The case is being investigated by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification.
Police do not have dashboard video of the incident, and Kent police don’t wear body cameras. No calls were placed to 9-1-1.
At the scene on Monday morning, neighbors said they were still barred from entering the apartment building.
Caitlyn Scott, who lives in the building, said she hadn’t been allowed inside since the standoff started a day ago. She expressed disapproval that the standoff was solved with violence.
“I’m glad she’s OK,” she said, “but I’m sorry he had to lose his life.”
Nick Glunt can be reached at 330-996-3565 or nglunt@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGluntABJ and on Facebook @JournoNickGlunt .
