Man injured in stabbing, suspect in custody as standoff in Vallejo ends

VALLEJO, Calif. - An hours-long standoff in Vallejo has come to an end and a suspect is in custody. Police say a stabbing victim was taken to the hospital. 

Police descended on a home at Ralston Court – a cul-de-sac after a 911 call of a possible stabbing in a home Wednesday afternoon. The standoff began around noon. 

A witness told KTVU that two women were released earlier and unharmed. Police said this was not a hostage situation. They said the two women, and the man who was stabbed, were initially too frightened to exit the home. Police said officers were able to convince them to leave. 

The stabbing victim is expected to survive. 

Sources had told KTVU that officers were calling for someone to surrender at the home.

Several marked patrol cars and an armored truck were parked outside the home. A police negotiator was also there and tried to get the suspect to come out. 

Just before 6 p.m. police officers made their way into the home and conducted a search. Police dogs and a robot were used in the search for the suspect. 

Police threw a flash bang through a window officers had broken earlier to give access to a drone to locate the suspect. The suspect was found barricaded in an upstairs bathroom.  

The suspect was seen being taken out on a gurney. Police identified the suspect as 31-year-old Ken Lamar Best. As a precaution, Best was taken to the hospital to be checked out before being booked into Solano County Jail. 

"He was alert, but he refused to cooperate even though he didn't put up a fight. He just didn't talk," said Sgt. Rashad Hollis, a Vallejo police spokesperson. 

Officials said the standoff situation started as a result of a dispute, but did not have further details. 

"It's a shock. Something had to have triggered him," said Diana Rivera, a neighbor and family friend. "We were worried and praying hopefully that no one had gotten hurt and that he didn't take himself out." 

Rivera described the suspect as a good man who was quiet and kind. She says Best and his parents have lived in the home for 15 years. 

"This past Christmas he came over with a Christmas present for my youngest son," Rivera said. "It breaks my heart." 

Police said Best's father expressed his gratitude for the outcome of this tense situation. 

"These things have the great potential to become deadly. We're just relieved and happy that we were able to have a peaceful resolution," Sgt. Hollis said. 

Police say Best faces a charge of assault with a deadly weapon.