Spokane man taken into custody after SWAT standoff in Hayden on Sunday afternoon

A 59-year-old Spokane man was taken into custody after a standoff with Kootenai County SWAT members that started as an assault call in a Hayden home late Sunday morning.

Around 11:20 a.m. Sunday the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office got a call from a woman who said she thought her boyfriend shot her sister in a home in the 800 block of Dee Court, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

Deputies were joined by the Kootenai County Joint Agency SWAT Team “due to the nature of the call,” the release said.

Units surrounding the residence noticed smoke coming from a window, the sheriff’s office said. People from neighboring homes were evacuated in case the house caught fire. Soon after, gunshots were heard from within the house, the release said.

SWAT members and deputies tried to contact the man inside who was believed to be armed. A woman then left the house and was safely taken from the scene, according to the release.

Kenneth Wilson left the home around 2:30 p.m. and was “taken into custody without incident,” according to the sheriff’s office. He was booked into jail on charges of aggravated assault, first-degree arson, unlawful imprisonment and cruelty to animals, among other charges.

Firefighters then had to contain the blaze, which had spread from the basement to the attic.