Charge filed in NK hostage, police standoff incident

Authorities have filed one charge and released the name of the suspect who allegedly held police at bay in a five-hour standoff late last month from inside his Quinton home.

Clanton J. May, 66, of 8530 George Watkins Road, is charged with one count of reckless use of a firearm stemming from the May 27 standoff. May’s 39-year-old daughter was in the house with the suspect through the entire ordeal, prompting officers on the scene to treat the matter as a hostage situation. But authorities are declining to place charges in connection with the woman being held.

“She was free to leave. She just refused to leave,” New Kent Sheriff  F.W. “Wakie” Howard Jr. said on Monday.

The incident began shortly before 1 a.m. on May 27 when the woman alerted 911 dispatchers that her father was holding a firearm and threatening suicide. Sheriff’s deputies, including a tactical team, along with State Police, a hostage negotiator, and mental health officials responded to the scene.

At one point, the suspect stepped outside and fired one round from a shotgun, but apparently the weapon was fired into the air and not at authorities surrounding the house. Officers refrained from returning fire.

Authorities were able to monitor the situation inside since the daughter kept open her cell phone line. At times when she was alone, authorities were able to coach her.

“We never talked directly to him,” Howard said the day after the incident. “We worked through her. She kept us informed of the situation inside and assisted us.”

Howard said the incident could have turned deadly if the suspect had emerged a second time while carrying the shotgun. But after a few hours, authorities received a break when the daughter convinced her father to take medication.

The suspect eventually fell asleep, enabling the daughter to snatch the shotgun and step outside where she was escorted to safety by tactical team members. The tactical team then rushed in to subdue the suspect.

The incident ended at 5:38 a.m., and the suspect was transported to a Richmond-area hospital where he remains in custody.

Authorities used Watkins Elementary School, located a short distance away, as a staging area, which prompted a number of calls from concerned parents. But the scene had been secured before students arrived, and the incident was not connected to recent rumored threats against the school system.

A sheriff’s office investigation found those threats to be false and merely rumors that began after an entry from a former New Kent High School student appeared on Facebook back in March or April. The entry apparently dealt with an argument between the former student and his girlfriend, who is enrolled at the school. As it was passed along, the account somehow blossomed into a threat “to shoot up the high school.”

Commonwealth’s Attorney Linwood Gregory reviewed the investigation’s findings and ruled evidence was insufficient to place charges.

“There is no direct threat to schools and no violation of the law,” said Lt. Chris Hamlet, who helped head the investigation and, along with other New Kent deputies, has children enrolled in county schools. “If we didn’t think it was safe, we wouldn’t send them.”