DOUGLAS COUNTY —A family of three, including a baby, is safe after officers broke through a window to help them escape the room they barricading themselves in to get away from a man with a knife on the other side of a door, according to the Lawrence Police Department.
Just before 3a.m. Wednesday, the woman called 911 but didn’t say much. Officers rushed to the 3100 block of W. 22nd and attempted to enter the front of the residence.
After receiving no answer, they climbed the fence around back and eventually window shades opened, and officers saw the family inside.
The woman had her entire body pushed against an interior door. Officers motioned to the man to open the window, but he wasn’t able. Both appeared the be in a state of panic.
Officers broke the window and were able to safely help the family climb out. Once the family was safe, officers entered the apartment with the couple’s key and found a man armed with a knife who refused to drop his weapon.
After repeated requested, an officer deployed a taser. The man was taken into custody, then to the hospital to be checked out as a precaution, before being booked into the Douglas County Correctional Facility.
The family told police they had just met the man that evening. One officer went to the hospital and received stitches for a hand injury but was expected back at work Wednesday night.