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SWAT team summoned after armed Mossy man tells deputies to come and get him

Updated

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A standoff with a 61-year-old man continued over several hours last night, after he allegedly shoved his live-in girlfriend and then twice fired multiple rounds at his home outside of Mossyrock.

Law enforcement officers eventually deployed pepper spray munitions into the house as well as other diversionary devices and SWAT members entered and took him into custody, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

James C. Long was booked into the Lewis County Jail around 7 o’clock this morning for several offenses.

It happened at the 100 block of Naylor Road, southeast of Mossyrock.

Deputies called about 8:20 p.m. were told of a family dispute in which he and his 52-year-old girlfriend had been arguing about a heater malfunctioning, according to Cmdr. Dusty Breen.

She said she heard him acting strangely in another room and a short time later, found him with her revolver, according to Breen. When she tried to get the gun from him, she was reportedly pushed.

The frightened woman and her mother decided to flee the home and as they did, they heard Long fire multiple rounds.

Breen said deputies were told she went back to see if Long harmed himself, and he hadn’t, and for some reason the 73-year-old mother went back inside the home. The girlfriend called 911 from a neighbor’s.

When deputies arrived, there was a short dialogue with Long, who then fired multiple rounds out of the house, according to Breen. He then told deputies to come and get him, Breen said.

Breen didn’t say where Long was aiming with the gunfire, but noted nobody was struck and deputies fired no shots.

Additional personnel were summoned, including Lewis County Regional SWAT members.

Breen said officers were able to get the 73 year old mother to come to the front door and then rush her to safety.

Lewis County Fire District 3 was put on standby.

“The standoff with Long continued over several hours and he did not comply with negotiators to come out of the residence,” Breen wrote in an email.

Eventually, after Long was apprehended, he was escorted to the waiting firefighters and then transported to Morton General Hospital to be evaluated.

He was arrested and booked for fourth-degree assault, reckless endangerment, third-degree malicious mischief and a violation of the firearms sales and transfers law for taking his girlfriend’s gun, according to Breen.