iStock/Thinkstock(BALTIMORE) — Police in Maryland arrested a man Sunday night after an argument over a grilled cheese sandwich led to an hours-long armed standoff with officers.
The incident in the Baltimore suburb of Dundalk began Sunday afternoon when Daniel Brian Blackwell, 55, grew irritated with his wife after she took a bite of his grilled cheese sandwich, police said.
As a result of his irritation, Blackwell’s wife told police, her husband fired a shot from the basement up through the kitchen floor, narrowly missing her and three teenagers. Blackwell told his wife the sound had been a firecracker, according to ABC affiliate WMAR-TV.
After the initial shot, Blackwell’s wife went down into the basement to confront him, she told police. She found Blackwell “surrounded by guns and ammunition,” according to police, and returned to the kitchen.
Shortly thereafter, according to a police statement, Blackwell allegedly fired three more shots into the kitchen from the basement, at which point his wife and the teenagers fled the house and contacted police.
When police arrived, Blackwell engaged tactical units and hostage negotiators for over three hours.
A neighbor told WMAR-TV that Blackwell encouraged police to shoot him. Authorities finally managed to subdue Blackwell with pepper balls — a non-lethal means — when he walked onto the porch with ammunition strapped to his waist. He was not armed at the time of his arrest.
Police seized 15 weapons from the home, including a .44 Magnum rifle, a .357 Magnum revolver, as well as several other rifles and at least four shotguns.
Blackwell — who remained hospitalized Monday with non-life threatening injuries — is charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment and various firearms violations.
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