SWAT situation breaks up kid's birthday party
Kids and parents evacuated from home; suspect found hiding in shed
Kids and parents evacuated from home; suspect found hiding in shed
Kids and parents evacuated from home; suspect found hiding in shed
A SWAT situation happened right in the middle of an 8-year-old's birthday party Saturday.
Albuquerque police said it started when a woman tried to cash a forged check at Walmart.
They said she and another man took off in a car and the chase ended at Parkland Circle.
As a police chopper circled the neighborhood, police were calling out over their loudspeaker, telling people to stay in their homes.
All of this was happening as Christina Rain was throwing a birthday party for her 8-year-old son and his friends.
The family said they were celebrating the birthday party when they saw a car come down the road and hit the curb.
“The car hit the curb across from us then he looked straight at us,” Rain said.
Rain had no idea that same man was about to barricade himself in the storage shed in her backyard.
“I looked out the front window and there were four police officers with guns pointing at my house, so I told all the kids to get in the playroom as fast as possible, so we did kind of a lockdown in my house,” Rain said.
She said she realized her garage door was still open so she went outside to close it.
“The police officers were screaming ‘Close your door, close your house,’ so I did it as fast as possible and I ran back inside, and then police came to our front door and said, ‘Get out of the house. Go to the park,’” Rain said.
KOAT’s cameras were rolling as the parents and their kids hurried down to a nearby park.
Rain said only one thing was going through her mind.
“My children,” Rain said.
With a SWAT team and K-9 now on scene, police were able to get the man into custody.
But Rain refused to let the situation ruin her son's big day.
“We're going to go home and have some cake,” Rain said.
Rain also thanked officers for their quick work and for the fact that no one was hurt.
Police have not said what charges both suspects face.