SWAT Team Moves In, Ends 3 Hour Standoff With Minnesota Stabbing Suspect

Albert Lea, MN (KROC-AM News)- There was a peaceful ending to a three-hour standoff involving a stabbing suspect near an Albert Lea elementary school Tuesday afternoon. 

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That’s according to a news release issued by the Albert Lea Police Department. Freeborn County dispatchers received a report that a 23-year-old man had been stabbed in the leg by his uncle at a residence in the 1000 block of Garfield Ave.around 10:25 a.m. Wednesday. 

Arriving first responders found the victim outside and transported him to the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Albert Lea. The young man’s injuries are being described as non-life-threatening. 

The South Central Drug Investigation Unit and a SWAT Team then responded to the scene. Authorities believed the stabbing suspect, later identified as 24-year-old Efren Estrada, was still in the home. 

Law enforcement set a perimeter at the scene and attempted to make verbal contact with Estrada. Estrada did not respond to the verbal attempts but was wearing an ankle bracelet that allowed law enforcement to track his movements inside of the home, the news release says. 

The SWAT Team then executed an extraction plan, breached the door and apprehended Estrada without further incident around 1:30 p.m. Police say he was never armed with a firearm and described the stabbing as an isolated incident. 

Estrada was arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault and taken to the Freeborn County Jail. 

The standoff triggered a lockdown at Hawthorne Elementary, which was less than a block west of the residence. Law enforcement also alerted a nearby church and senior home of the incident. 

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