DENVER, Colo. -- An armed standoff involving a suspect in the abduction of a young boy ended Monday afternoon as Special Weapons and Tactics team members entered the apartment and shots were fired.
The status of the suspect and his 5-year-old son was not immediately clear and a news conference was scheduled by police.
Police had surrounded the apartment in the 9700 block of East Harvard Ave. shortly before 9 a.m. That's where they believed Elias Santisteven, 22, was holding his son, Deion Santisteven.
Police said the young boy was taken Sunday, along with another child who was later released. An Amber alert was issued just after midnight, asking for the public's help in finding the boy and his father.
After police surrounded the apartment an older woman and a young boy walked out of the apartment. A man walked out just before the final moments of the standoff. Their relationship to the suspect was not immediately known.
A short time after police entered the apartment, police officers -- including SWAT team members -- could be seen walking slowly away from the location.
Police thought they had the father cornered overnight in west Denver but he was not in the house they surrounded. They then went to an apartment in southeast Denver and said shots were fired as they approached, but they weren't sure who the gunman was shooting at.
Residents of the building said police returned fire when the shots rang out and it was a scary situation.
"Boom, boom, boom -- like three shots," said Karen Moorehead, a neighbor who lives in the same apartment building.
Denver Standoff Ends With Shots Fired