UPDATE: One in custody after 6 hour standoff at Idaho Falls hotel - East Idaho News
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UPDATE: One in custody after 6 hour standoff at Idaho Falls hotel

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Justin Derek Ryan Ferguson | Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office

UPDATE

IDAHO FALLS — Deputies have taken a wanted man into custody after a six-hour standoff at an Idaho Falls hotel Wednesday.

Bonneville County Sheriff Paul J. Wilde says Justin Derek Ryan Ferguson, 28, was wanted on a felony warrant for failing to register as a sex offender and a felony warrant for a probation violation.

Deputies learned Ferguson was at the Quality Inn and Suites on River Parkway. He says Ferguson barricaded himself in a hotel room on the east side of the building around 10 a.m.

Guests at the hotel were evacuated, and portions of River Parkway and Lindsay Boulevard were closed.

Law enforcement continued to negotiate with Ferguson, whose girlfriend also refused to come out of the hotel at first. Wilde says Ferguson had a knife and was trying to give the appearance he had a gun. He was also threatening to take his own life, Wilde said.

The girlfriend came out of the hotel in the early afternoon.

Ferguson ultimately stopped communicating with negotiators, so authorities were forced to bust in by putting a hole in the wall. Ferguson barricaded himself again, this time in the bathroom of the hotel room. A tactical team then released gas in the air to get Ferguson to come out, Wilde says.

Ferguson was taken into custody shortly after 4 p.m. and is being treated before being transported to Bonneville County Jail.

ORIGINAL

IDAHO FALLS — Multiple police officers, sheriff deputies and Idaho State Police troopers have responded to an active situation at the Quality Inn and Suites on River Parkway.

Authorities have released very little information, but have closed sections of nearby roads, including River Parkway and Lindsay Boulevard. Police are turning away foot and vehicle traffic near and on the Idaho Falls Greenbelt.

Police spokeswoman Jessica Clements says portions of the hotel have been evacuated and several ambulances are on the scene.

EastIdahoNews.com has a reporter at the scene and we will post updates as we learn them.

Police are asking the public to stay away from the area.

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Eric Grossarth, EastIdahoNews.com
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Eric Grossarth, EastIdahoNews.com

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