(COLUMBUS) – Seven children escaped from a Columbus home during a SWAT Team three-hour standoff with an armed man early this morning.
The Columbus Police Department responded to a home around 5 a.m. in the 1000 block of Iowa Street. Residents told police a man with a knife broke into the home, and seven children were inside.
Four of the children successfully escaped on their own, but three children remained inside with 35-year-old Tyrrice Degraffenreid. He told police he was the father of two of the young children still inside the home.
Officers say there was a protective order was in place prohibiting Degraffenreid from being at the residence.
Officials attempted to get Degraffenreid to surrender, but he refused to exit the home.
The SWAT Team arrived a short time later.
SWAT Team officers entered the home, and they escorted the remaining three children out to safety.
Degraffenreid was found hiding in a bedroom by a Columbus Police Department K-9.
Degraffenreid was arrested on charges of residential entry and violation of a protective order and invasion of privacy.
