Somerton man in custody following standoff
A 22-year-old Somerton man was taken into custody early Saturday morning after barricading himself inside a home during a more than six-hour standoff with deputies from the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office, and numerous other local and federal law enforcement agencies
YCSO spokesperson Alfonso Zavala said the incident began at 6:36 p.m. on Friday when deputies received a report of a male subject in the street firing multiple gunshots in the 2700 block of West Donley Road.
During the initial investigation, it was learned that the suspect became agitated with family members and began firing multiple gunshots inside the home while three of the victims were inside.
“The suspect then went out to the roadway where he continued to fire multiple rounds,” Zavala said..
A fourth victim arrived on scene and attempted to calm the suspect down, but was unable to do so, as the suspect fired multiple shots at him, while he was in his vehicle.
Upon Deputies arrival, the suspect went back into his yard and continued to fire multiple shots. He then barricaded himself in the home and refused to surrender.
Responding agencies established a perimeter around the neighborhood and requested additional units. The YCSO Special Response Team arrived and took command, and was assisted by the Yuma Police Department’s Special Enforcement Team, U.S. Border Patrol BORTAC and a Customs and Border Protection Air Marine helicopter.
Nearby homes were also evacuated with use of YCSO and YPD armored vehicles.
“The suspect came outside the home multiple times in an attempt to shoot the helicopter as units moved closer to the residence,” Zavala said,
Zavala added that the YCSO and YPD Crisis Management Teams attempted to communicate with the suspect, but he would not respond.
Deputies were eventually able to make entry into the home and used a tactical robot to search inside. With the use of the robot it was learned that the suspect had staged multiple firearms throughout the residence and doors had been barricaded with furniture blocking entry ways.
At approximately 12:37 A.M., the suspect, now identified as Daniel CarranzaAlvarez was located inside his bedroom and verbal commands were given via the robot to exit the home.
Approximately three minutes later CarranzaAlvarez came out and surrendered peacefully. There were also no reports of any injuries as a result of the incident.
Carranza-Alvarez has been booked into the Yuma County jail on four counts of aggravated assault, discharging a weapon at an occupied structure, disorderly conduct and aggravated assault on a police officer, all of which are felonies.
He also made his initial appearance in Yuma Justice Court on Saturday afternoon, at which time he was informed of the allegations against him.