Father-son arm-wrestling match leads to 8-hour standoff with cops, Kentucky police say

An arm-wrestling contest between a father and son led to a shooting and an 8-hour police standoff Monday in Kentucky, according to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office.

Curtis Zimmerman was intoxicated when he challenged his son to an arm-wrestling competition, the sheriff’s office said. When the 55-year-old father lost to his juvenile son multiple times, he became “agitated” and the two got into a physical fight, according to the sheriff’s office.

The father grabbed a gun and fired two shots into the ceiling when his son was going upstairs, the sheriff said. Deputies were dispatched around 12:58 a.m. Monday to the home in Florence for reports “of a subject with a weapon,” the sheriff’s office said in a release.

Two family members in the home went outside and were unarmed when deputies arrived, according to the sheriff’s office. Authorities say Zimmerman refused commands from the deputies to exit the home, which led to an 8-hour standoff.

Members of the Boone County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team and the Florence Police Department SWAT Team assisted with the standoff. A hostage negotiation team communicated with Zimmerman throughout the morning and he surrendered without incident at around 8:25 a.m., according to the sheriff.

Zimmerman will be evaluated at a local hospital before being transported to the Boone County Detention Center, the sheriff’s office said. He is charged with one count of wanton endangerment and will have a $5,000 cash bond, according to the sheriff.

He was not listed in the jail’s roster as of 12 p.m. Monday.