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JAMESTOWN – The James Valley Special Operations team apprehended a 41-year-old man following an hours-long standoff on Thursday afternoon, Aug. 4, in northwest Jamestown.
Kevin Gene Garnica, no confirmed address, was arrested at about 4:20 p.m. in front of an apartment building at 119 5th St. NW, where he was reportedly armed with a gun and a knife. Garnica was inside unit 9.
Edinger said reports will be forwarded to the Stutsman County State’s Attorney’s Office for formal charges.
Members of the Special Operations Team dropped OC and CS gas where a window was taken out by a mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicle with a ram. Shortly after, Garnica was asked to crawl out the front door. Earlier, the MRAP had opened the front door to the building.
Garnica and several officers were treated at the scene for exposure to gas, and Garnica was transported by Jamestown Area Ambulance to Jamestown Regional Medical Center to be treated for minor injuries.
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Edinger said the Stutsman County Communications Center dispatched Jamestown Police Department officers to the apartment after receiving a report that Garnica held a female victim overnight and threatened to kill her, and she escaped. Garnica had warrants out of Pierce County in North Dakota and had made threats over recent weeks that he would injure or kill law enforcement, he said.
Edinger said more information was gathered and law enforcement determined the man had a knife and a gun.
A perimeter was set up initially but was later expanded. Fifth Street Northwest was blocked to traffic from First Avenue to Third Avenue Northwest.
“We locked down a little tighter because obviously, that is more of a concern at distance,” Edinger said, referring to the Garnica's claim of having a gun. “That’s when we evacuated the day care.”
Earlier, a shelter-in-place order was put in place for the neighborhood as officers set up a perimeter and attempted to contact Garnica. After receiving more information that Garnica had a knife and a gun, a day care and surrounding apartments were evacuated, Edinger said.
Garnica initially came out the front door of the apartment building at about 1:45 p.m. The door was opened with the MRAP about five minutes before he came outside.
Garnica appeared to set something on the ground before returning to the inside of the building. Edinger said he saw the man reach down and set something down but did not know what it was.
Garnica then came outside shortly before 2 p.m. holding a knife to his arm before he was shot “a number of times” with less-lethal munitions, Edinger said.
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“Then he retreated back in and then decided to start negotiating with us,” he said.
Edinger said less-lethal munitions look like bullets that come out of a military-style grenade launcher but the front 2 inches are made out of foam rubber or wood. He was not sure which ones the man was hit with.
Shortly after Garnica was hit with less-lethal munitions, Edinger said Garnica claimed he was injured. It was not clear at the time if Edinger meant he was injured from the less-lethal munitions.
Contact was reestablished with Garnica for several more hours. Negotiations stopped progressing, and OC and CS gas was deployed into the apartment, forcing Garnica to surrender, he said.
The Special Operations Team used a small remote-controlled robot that has cameras and speakers.
“We can send that in and talk to them and deliver like in this case a phone so we can communicate,” he said.
Edinger said there was a problem trying to keep people outside of the perimeter that was established. He said people thought they could drive around it.
“We are having to watch over the public to make sure some of those very obvious things are not being violated,” he said. “Then people (are) wanting to take matters into their own hands and bring their own guns. Those things are not helpful. We have a situation going on, and we have somebody that wants to handle it themselves. I get parents are looking to get their kids out of day care but they are making things way worse.”
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The Jamestown Police Department was assisted by the Stutsman County Sheriff’s Office, North Dakota Highway Patrol, North Dakota Probation and Parole, James Valley Special Operations and Crisis Negotiations, North Dakota Department of Corrections, Jamestown Area Ambulance, Stutsman County Emergency Management, Jamestown public works, Jamestown Fire Department and several individuals from the community who brought water and other services.
