Tuscaloosa Motel Stand-Off Ends With Arrest; Suspects Identified

TUSCALOOSA, AL — An armed stand-off at a Tuscaloosa motel ended with the suspect being taken into custody after more than four hours. The standoff ended just before noon when tear gas was used after one suspect had barricaded himself in a room and refused to come out.

The suspects have since been identified as a father and son — Wade Alan Christian, 43, and Carson Christian, 18 — who have both been charged with first-degree burglary and are expected to face additional charges. The stand-off took place at the Motel 6 on McFarland Boulevard E in Tuscaloosa.

Tuscaloosa Police Chief Brent Blankley told local media that officers responded to the scene and found a dog in the parking lot who had been killed. Officers then tracked the two suspects back to one of the rooms, before Wade Christian barricaded himself inside.

"At that point, we pumped multiple rounds of gas inside the Motel 6 room," Blankley said, referring to the tactics used to subdue the suspect after hours of negotiating. "The suspect came out, surrendered, and was taken into custody without any incident."

Click to hear TPD Chief Brent Blankley's full comments following the standoff.

As Patch previously reported, a 911 caller reported shots fired at the motel on McFarland Boulevard at 7:23 a.m. and Tuscaloosa Police Department officers arrived to find a dog that had been shot and killed. A female dog that belonged to the occupants was attacking one of the intruders when the other man shot and killed it.

TPD’s Special Response Team, the Criminal Investigations Division’s burglary unit, patrol officers and administrators all responded to the call.

"One of the things we pride ourselves here at TPD is working with our SRT team — our Special Response Team — they're very slow, very methodical in everything they do. We give the suspect multiple chances to surrender, at that point we used less lethal options such as tear gear ... his eyes are gonna be burning for a little bit but all of my officers go home safe."

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