WASHINGTON — A man who barricaded himself in the Colesville, Maryland, area following a domestic situation Wednesday morning that prompted a shelter-in-place warning from police has been charged with assault.
Jalen Christopher Marshall, 25, is accused of assaulting his 72-year-old grandfather. Marshall was charged with first- and second-degree assault, Montgomery County police said.
Around 9:05 a.m. Wednesday, police were called to a home in the 13500 block of Montvale Drive for a domestic violence report. Officers met with the grandfather, who had wounds to his face, when they arrived at the scene.
Police said Marshall was barricaded inside the home, and when officers tried to make contact with him, he came out holding what looked like a long rifle before going back inside. He did that several times, and police said he even told officers that he was going to drink bleach.
Marshall lived with his grandfather and grandmother, and the grandfather told police that Marshall had been acting strangely over the past few days. That morning, Marshall started yelling at his grandfather and punched the older man. He pushed his grandfather to the ground and hit the man’s face with a dining room chair, police said.
The grandfather tried to call 911 and run away, but Marshall pushed him down once more. When the grandfather was finally able to get outside, Marshall chased after him. Police said Marshall also took a sword out of his vehicle and tried to strike his grandfather with it.
The grandfather was able to get help from a neighbor, who called 911. Marshall then ran back into the home, police said.
After around five hours of negotiations, police said officers forced their way into the home and arrested Marshall. He had used furniture in his barricade. Police found that Marshall had actually been holding a pellet gun; they also found his sword.
The grandfather was taken to a hospital for treatment.
The shelter-in-place warning for the Sherwood Forest neighborhood urged residents to stay indoors while police responded to the domestic situation. It was lifted around 2:09 p.m.
