Elkhart County Standoff Lasts for 18 Hours

Source: (Photo: Joe Choe16/Thinkstock.)

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind.—An 18-hour standoff this weekend ended with a two-year-old boy found dead and a man arrested in Elkhart County.

State Police say they went to check on a man and his two children at a home on Pendleton Drive. They got there at 9:06 pm Saturday and learned that the man was armed and threatened to harm his children and law enforcement.

At 12:09 am Sunday, the Elkhart County Regional SWAT team tried to contact the man, but they say he refused to exit the home and later fired a gun before barricading himself inside.

The incident continued throughout the day and they tried to contact the man “with little success.”

“At approximately 3:30 p.m. the Indiana State Police Emergency Response Team made entry into the home and took the male suspect, identified as Ryan Snyder, 37, into custody,” said a State Police news release.

They found a two-year-old boy dead inside the home. A four-year-old girl was also found. She was treated at the scene and released to a relative.

“Snyder was taken to a local hospital to be checked out and then incarcerated at the Elkhart County Jail.  This case is being investigated by detectives with the Indiana State Police and the Elkhart County Homicide Unit.  The Elkhart County Prosecutor’s Office will review this case and determine charges against Snyder,” the release said.