Murrieta Man Accused Of Striking Neighbor With Sword Arrested After Hours-Long Barricade

MURRIETA, CA — After an hours-long standoff with police, a Murrieta man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of injuring his neighbor with a sword, authorities confirmed Friday.

Michael Keen, 51, was booked into the Cois Byrd Detention Center after a SWAT team worked to coerce him out of his apartment, where he was barricaded for several hours, according to the Murrieta Police Department.

Around 11:08 a.m. Thursday, police received a 911 call regarding an assault with a deadly weapon. Upon arrival at the Madison Park Condominiums, they found a man with non-life-threatening laceration wounds to the face and hand.

The victim told police that Keen, who lives across from him, had swung a sword at him during an argument. He said Keen sliced him across the face and hand before the victim was able to flee to a nearby residence to get help, police said.

Arriving paramedics provided medical aid to the victim, who was taken to a local hospital. There, he required sutures for his injuries and was released the same day.

Back at the scene, the suspect had reportedly barricaded the doors and windows of his home. Police created a perimeter around the area and attempted to de-escalate the situation by communicating with the Keen using a loudspeaker, police said.

When that failed, the Southwest Cities SWAT Team was called in to take over negotiations with the suspect. After hours, the team devised a plan to enter the suspect's apartment. Once inside, the suspect, identified as Keen, was taken into custody for felony charges, including assault with a deadly weapon and mayhem, the department said.

No injuries to the suspect or officers were reported.

Detectives obtained a search warrant for Keen's apartment, where the sword was recovered.

Anyone with information about this investigation was asked to contact Detective Nate Campbell at 951-461-2677 or by email at ncampbell@murrietaca.gov.

Meanwhile, residents remained in the dark about the nature of the investigation for nearly 24 hours as they were told to avoid the area and a stretch of Los Alamos Road remained closed throughout the day.

At 2:12 p.m., the Murrieta Police Department confirmed that the investigation involved a SWAT team and that the incident was contained to a single apartment unit, according to a social media post made by the department.

By 3:43 p.m., police said they had a suspect in custody.