Gilbert, SC 12/15/2021 (Paul Kirby) – Just before 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department used its Twitter account to notify the public that they were attempting to make contact with a man they believed was at his home on Blackthorn Drive in Gilbert. They wanted to speak with him after he threatened to hurt a family member. A spokesperson for the department said that no injuries were reported, and they believed the man was alone in his home at the time. They also said that believed the man was armed, and they were taking every precaution to keep everyone, including the suspect, safe.
Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon’s staff has had a lot of practice in dealing with individuals that are hold up in structures over the past several years. In one instance, a man barricaded himself inside a home after committing domestic battery and then shooting a deputy with a shotgun. That man then barricaded himself inside a home for 12 hours before a tactical team used tear gas to force his surrender. In another instance, the SWAT Team from the Sheriff’s Department assisted the Lexington Police Department with a tactical entry and takedown after a man barricaded himself in a structure just west of the Lexington Town Hall. Then again, just last week, Sheriff Koon’s Tactical Team took Daniel Hill, III into custody after he escaped an EMS unit, stole a truck and a gun, and then barricaded himself in a home in the Red Bank area of the county. That too was a multi-hour standoff.
In the Gilbert case yesterday, it once again ended peacefully without anyone being injured. At approximately 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, the Department tweeted that deputies had taken Alexander Owens into custody over night after finding him walking along Old Charleston Road. He was transported to the Lexington County Detention Center where he has been charged with first degree assault and pointing and presenting a firearm at a person.
