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A tense, 21-minute standoff between police and a man armed with three rifles and a bomb ended peacefully Friday afternoon.
Randal L. Pryor, 26, 1407 E. Lincoln, Goshen, was arrested, jailed and preliminary charged with criminal recklessness with a firearm, pointing a firearm at an officer and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.
He may also face several other charges, according to Indiana State Trooper Brooks Johnson.
Johnson said no charges were final until the prosecuting attorney reviews the case and decides which charges to file.
No bond was set.
Warsaw Police Sgt. Doug Brumfield Sr., one of several officers who responded to the scene on Fox Farm Road said the standoff was intense, with the suspect aiming a rifle at police on numerous occasions.
"I've been doing this for 30 years and that's the closest I've ever come to killing a man," Brumfield said. "I don't know if the guy had a death wish or what, but it was a close one, man."
Brumfield said he and other officers had their weapons trained on the suspect throughout the standoff.
Johnson characterized the suspect as extremely intoxicated. "He stood next to his truck, pointed a weapon at officers and made rambling comments," Johnson said.
Officers finally convinced Pryor to put the weapon down and surrender.
A subsequent search of the suspect's truck turned up two other rifles, several rounds of ammunition and a bomb. The bomb was ball-shaped, covered with duct tape and had a fuse. Brumfield said he believed the device was filled with black powder.
Brumfield said the weapon the suspect aimed at police had a magazine inserted but was not loaded, although, "there was no way we could have known that."
One of the rifles in the truck had a bayonet attached.
State police impounded the truck and Brumfield was unsure whether the rifles in the truck were loaded.
The incident began when Pryor allegedly was asked to leave the Time Out Inn on Old Road 30 West, Warsaw.
Employees at Time Out told police that Pryor had been in the bar since about noon and became involved in an argument with another patron at around 3 p.m. Pryor became loud and uncooperative and Time Out employees asked him to leave.
Once outside the bar, Pryor lifted his shirt to show a knife in a leather sheath. Employees then called police and Pryor left the scene in his pickup truck.
Pryor left the scene before the officers arrived, Johnson said.
Officers throughout the county were alerted to be on the look-out for Pryor. Johnson encountered a vehicle matching the description of Pryor's a little after 3:30 p.m. Pryor was in his vehicle in a ditch on Fox Farm Road, a quarter of a mile south of CR 200N.
Pryor apparently drove into the ditch and became stuck. Johnson said it is not known how or why Pryor drove into the ditch.
When Pryor noticed Johnson approaching him, he accelerated but the truck failed to move. Johnson then spotted Pryor reaching for a gun and Johnson took cover. Johnson called for back-up and officers from the Warsaw Police Department, Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department and Indiana State Police responded.
Pryor reportedly told police he was distraught about his wife leaving him.
