DENVER — Just a day after holding police in a six-hour standoff inside a Denver Radio Shack, 19-year-old Taveuan Williams is confused how an ordinary Friday could turn into a life sentence.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to see daylight again and ill be able to see my little girl,†said Williams in an interview with FOX31 Denver’s Mark Meredith inside the Denver city detention center.
Williams and a friend, 25-year-old Michael Annan, are being held on a $200,000 bond after investigators captured the pair moments after a tense standoff inside an electronics store.
Investigators first responded to reports of a robbery at the Radio Shack off of Colfax and Glencoe around 10:30am Friday. Williams wouldn’t discuss specifics of the robbery, or which of the two men fired on police, but explained he never planned to hurt his hostage: a store employee.
“I wasn’t trying to be big and bad…none of that. I’m not gonna lie…I was scared, I had emotions going through my stomach that I had never felt before,†added Williams.
The hostage, 28-year-old Christopher Nimerfroh, walked away without injuries but has yet to talk about the ordeal to local media.
“I know something good is going to come out of this, I know my life is turned upside down,†added Williams via videophone.
The Radio Shack, which was damaged in the robbery and assault, is expected to re-open on Tuesday Sept. 11.
Denver Police have not filed formal charges against the suspects but charges are expected to include kidnapping and attempted murder.
The hostage crisis at the Radio Shack store came to an end late Friday afternoon as two suspects were taken away by Denver police and the employee who was held hostage was released.
This began just before 10 a.m. when police responded to a call about a robbery in progress on E. Colfax Ave. at Glencoe. Police say the suspects ran into the back of the Radio Shack at that location and took store manager Christopher Nimerfroh, 28, hostage.
Police swarmed around the store bringing the entire neighborhood to a standstill. Denver Police Chief Robert White says the suspects fired at police when they arrived, but no one was hurt.
“They responded to a robbery in progress,†White says. “They entered the store. And as they entered the store one of the suspects was exiting the store. Shortly thereafter, they exited the store; he reentered into a secure area. They [officers] secured the store, waiting for the arrival of our SWAT team.â€
Family and friends of the hostage and the suspect arrived on the scene and spent an incredibly tense afternoon waiting for a resolution.
SWAT officers kept their rifles trained on the Radio Shack. Snipers were seen on roof tops.
One man pulled up as police responded to the radio call. “There was a squad of five of them that walked in with a shield and I heard two shots fired and then the window next to the door was broken out.â€
Friends and witnesses say 19-year-old Taveuan Williams and a 20-year-old companion were the barricaded suspects who held Chris Nimerfroh hostage.
“When it happened, he didn’t intend to shoot,†says Williams’ close friend Ernest Watson. “But when the police arrived, everything just went haywire.â€
Watson tried to help police talk Williams and the other suspect into giving up. “I was talking to him a couple of times just asking him to come out.â€
Watson says the two suspects were confused and scared. “He was afraid they were going to kill him, but we keep telling him to come out, take his clothes off and just come out. He said they’re not coming out.â€
Police officers were moving around inside the Radio Shack. The suspects and hostage may have been in a back room in the store.
The suspects were communicating through Facebook and text messages with numerous friends and family members who were outside the store
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