An overnight standoff in Jackson that reportedly put four children at risk ended with no injuries after 12 hours.
According to Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney, around 6:45 p.m. on Monday, detectives with the department’s robbery-homicide division were near Dianne Drive inquiring about a shooting and homicides that occurred in the area over the weekend. Brackney said the detectives were trying to speak with witnesses and potential suspects.
When a detective attempted to approach 44-year-old Christopher “Smiley” Walker, he reportedly ran into his ex-wife’s house and barricaded himself, with their four children inside. Brackney said the department was not releasing what, if any, specific case Walker was involved in this past weekend to avoid adding fuel to the incident.
“He was not supposed to be here,” Chief Brackney said in a social media update. “He was only supposed to be in the area to drop off the children at best. He goes in, and then he has the four children inside with him.”
At the time, Walker reportedly would not come out of the house, nor would he let any of his four children leave. The Jackson Police Department responded by activating its negotiation and SWAT teams and calling for assistance from the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office.
After a few hours, they reportedly convinced Walker to release one of the children. Shortly after, a second child escaped the house and waited outside with the mother and the rest of the law enforcement officers.
Roughly five hours in, around midnight, JPD was reportedly able to successfully convince Walker to release the third of the four children, but another child remained in the house for nearly seven hours after the release of the sibling. However, Walker’s reasons for remaining barricaded inside the house were unclear, police said.
“We’ve talked to him, and we’ve allowed him to speak with other family members to hopefully convince him about the advantages of just coming out and talk to us,” Brackney said shortly after midnight. “No one has been hurt, and we want to keep it that way.”
Throughout the standoff, it was unclear whether or not a weapon was involved.
“We’re always going to assume that an individual is armed until we know otherwise,” Brackney explained. “That is always the safe assumption in any of these cases. Although we have not seen a weapon, there have been no shots fired or anything of that nature. But the natural assumption is always to prepare for the fact that any individual may be armed.”
Communication ran smoothly, and no violence occurred during the standoff. Numerous family members attempted to talk Walker into releasing the last child and coming out of the house to no avail, but there was no escalation of violence.
Brackney emphasized in her third update that during communications with Walker, they did not give in to any demands the man made of the JPD.
“He has had minor requests – he wanted cigarettes, for us to verify that we were the actual Jackson Police Department on the scene, and things of that nature,” Brackney said. “We will not give [Walker] anything like a cigarette or anything like that… We just do not negotiate and put our officers at risk.”
Around 7 a.m. on Tuesday, the SWAT team made entry into the home. Walker reportedly attempted to flee out a window and down the street, but did not get far due to being tased. The final child was freed and unharmed, while Walker was taken into custody and transported to the JPD headquarters for an interview to determine his involvement with past shootings, as well as why he barricaded himself inside, and to determine his charges.
“We did recover a firearm from the scene, so this really could have gone very differently, and we’re just grateful for the professionalism of our SWAT team and the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office, who helped us with our negotiations too,” Brackney said.
The children were safely reunited with their mother, and Dianne Drive reopened and resumed normal operations, police confirmed.