Community members and local officials gathered Sunday in front of the West Cross Street house where on Jan. 4 and 5, 2026, police spent more than 30 hours in crisis negotiations with a man, 53, who barricaded himself inside.
On Jan. 11, 2026, neighbors united on the front lawn in a display of support for the man, now in police custody, after residents and some elected officials raised questions about the police response to the incident.
Police response to barricade incident
Just after 12 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, Washtenaw County Crisis Negotiators and Washtenaw Metro SWAT arrived on the scene to assist the Ypsilanti Police Department, stated a post from the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office on Facebook.
YPD had responded following a call reporting an individual allegedly banging on neighbors’ doors with what police initially described as a long stick, stated the post. Police said they later confirmed the object was a sword and that the man confronted officers before retreating into the residence, the post stated. Police said it was unknown if there were additional weapons present, the post stated.
The post stated that mental health professionals were present on the scene. A Facebook post from Michigan State Senator Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) confirmed that Michigan State Police officers were also on the scene.
“After over 30-hours of crisis negotiation, the armed 53-year-old man who had barricaded himself in the upper levels of a house in the City of Ypsilanti has been safely taken into custody,” stated the post from the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office. “This matter remains an on-going investigation. We are unable to comment further at this time.”
A Jan. 8, 2026, statement from the county sheriff thanked the deputies and law enforcement officers involved.
“Their unwavering dedication to service is the reason why no one was seriously injured or killed,” said the statement. “We are working with our partners to obtain, compile, and disseminate appropriate information, consistent with our obligations to maintain the integrity of the investigation and on-going criminal matter. We will provide further details of the incident as soon as practically feasible.”
Criticism of police tactics
Some residents and elected officials have raised concerns about the tactics used by police during the incident. The house where the incident occurred was left with significant damage, with visible destruction and now-boarded windows.
The man in custody had a history of mental illness, said Washtenaw County Commissioner Annie Somerville (D-District 6). Somerville was at the community gathering on Jan. 11, 2026. During the barricade incident, neighborhood residents reported police use of tear gas, flash bangs and a long-range acoustic device, a specialized sound weapon used to produce sound at a high pitch.
The heating inside the house was disconnected, Somerville said. A fire hose was used to spray water into the room in which the man was barricaded, she said. She also said equipment was used to ram into the building.
The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners issued a statement on Jan. 9, 2026, calling for associated charges against the man to be dropped. It is currently unclear what the man involved has been charged with.
“We think that this whole situation from start to finish was a huge disaster and really a misrepresentation of what government is supposed to do for people, and so we feel it is very inappropriate for charges to be pressed against him, given the circumstances and given the 30-plus hours of torture by the government,” Somerville said.
Somerville said the situation required deescalation measures and an approach sensitive to mental health crises, as opposed to the tactics used. She said she visited the scene during the incident and was told by Sheriff Alyshia Dyer on Monday, Jan. 4 that deescalation attempts would be made. Before the Jan. 4 and 5 incident, efforts were made to provide support to the man, Somerville said.
“Many people who were close to him tried calling and getting crisis support, not police response. From everything that I’ve gathered, every time that they called dispatch at any point prior to the Sunday situation, there was no mention of the CMH (Community Mental Health Organization) crisis line,” said Somerville. “So for the people who were calling saying that they just wanted to help before it gets bad, they (Community Mental Health Organization) were not given that information.”
In a written statement, the Washtenaw County Community Mental Health organization confirmed it was “not contacted by the individual involved, their family, or law enforcement prior to the January 4, 2026, incident or in months preceding.”
Calls for third-party investigation
“We’re asking questions,” said Ypsilanti Mayor Nicole Brown, who was also at the community gathering on Jan. 11, 2026. “We’re trying to figure out what the policies and procedures were, if there are gaps and if there needs to be a change. We want to try to come to an understanding on what that change needs to be, so that we do not end up in a situation like this in the future.”
Steve Wilcoxen, an Ypsilanti City Council member representing Ward 2 who was also present, confirmed that there would be a third-party investigation into the incident.
“It was a crazy, disproportional response to what was needed,” said Wicoxen. “The person should have been receiving other services.”
Wilcoxen said there was miscommunication and issues between various departments involved that impacted the response to the incident. He confirmed that the individual involved was both hospitalized and incarcerated following the events of the barricade incident.
Eyewitness accounts
Neighbor Greg Woodring, who lives on the same street in which the barricade incident took place, said he was an eyewitness to some of the tactics used by police officers. At 1 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, Woodring saw police first arrive at the location of the incident. Woodring said he later returned to his home at 10 p.m. to see the situation still ongoing.
“I went in and heard an explosion and it shook all the walls of my house, so I went outside,” Woodring said. “I found out that the police were throwing flashbangs and tear gas into the window.”
By 1:30 a.m., Woodring said the incident was still ongoing, with police forces attempting to communicate with the individual inside with a loudspeaker and LRAD, often used by law enforcement for crowd control.
“When I woke up the next morning, I was certain that it would be over by then, but I could see that it had only grown larger,” said Woodring.
At noon the next day, a group of onlookers had formed to watch the situation unfold. According to Woodring, the police instructed the crowd to move back toward Oakwood Street, where the house was not visible. Video recorded by Woodring and reviewed by The Eastern Echo showed a physical altercation between police officers and onlookers, with some onlookers pushed to the ground and detained by police.
Alongside tear gas, flash bangs and a LRAD, the police also used a rook, a modified vehicle used by SWAT forces and police, to allow officers to shoot water from a fire hose into the house where the individual was located.
Community members respond
Following the incident, President of the Normal Park Neighborhood Association of Ypsilanti Dawn Keech and her husband, Jason Keech, built a heart out of wood and a whiteboard and nailed it to a tree outside of the house where the incident took place. The heart featured sentiments from neighbors and those close to the individual. “Your community loves you,” wrote one of the gatherers. Another read, “Hate has no home here! You are not alone.”
The board also included calls for more mental health awareness in crisis situations.
According to Keech, the heart was created to show support for the involved individual and their family.
“We just wanted people to come and write a note, and for it to serve as a reminder that in neighborhoods and communities, connections between people matter,” said Keech.
Community members gather on Jan. 11, 2026, and write messages of support on a sign for residents of the house involved in a 30-hour barricade incident on Jan. 4 and 5, 2026, on the 1100 block of West Cross Street in Ypsilanti.
