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A potentially violent situation was brewing in Larksville Wednesday evening.
A man wanted in connection with his father’s death was holed up in his home on Washington Avenue.
Larksville and state police had the home surrounded, weapons drawn.
Residents in the neighborhood were stopped and checked.
It was all for good reason.
Ulysses Denman, 20, was suspected of killing his father, William Denman by shooting him twice in the head with a .22-caliber handgun early Tuesday morning inside 590 Washington Ave.
According to staff writer Ed Lewis’ story in Friday’s Times Leader, an autopsy revealed William Denman, 64, died from two gunshot wounds to the head. His death was ruled a homicide by county Coroner William Lisman.
As to an alleged motive, First Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce noted the younger Denman believed his father was going to harm his mother, Eleanor Denman, Lewis reported.
“We know it had something to do with his belief he needed to protect his mother,” Sanguedolce said, adding that the son’s belief was not true.
The younger Denman now stands accused of killing his father.
But on Wednesday evening, all that mattered was Ulysses Denman was in his Larksville home and presumed to be armed. Police had the place surrounded, and, of course, they were armed likewise.
It was a stick of dynamite waiting for a lit match.
But thanks to quick thinking by police officials that match was never lit.
Around midnight Thursday morning, police, realizing that the younger Denman was not going to honor their requests to come out of his house peacefully, came up with another plan.
Police decided to use a bit of subterfuge.
Officials simply left the area — well, not completely.
Remaining behind, and evidently out of sight, were state troopers and members of the Larksville police.
The ruse was good enough to even convince one veteran reporter that the standoff had ended.
However, that morning Ulysses Denman was apprehended.
According to Lewis story:
Ulysses Denman exited the front door and walked down Washington Avenue when he was approached by several troopers, who spotted a silver handgun with a wooden handle in his pocket, according to the criminal complaint.
Ulysses Denman was ordered to lie on the ground but went to his knees and placed his hands behind his head.
He was arraigned later in the day and now faces charges of criminal homicide, firearms not to be carried without a license, illegal possession of a firearm and theft. He was jailed at the county correctional facility with no bail.
His guilt or innocence will now be decided in the Luzerne County court system.
No matter the results of that case, one thing remains clear — everyone involved in his arrest deserves credit for keeping a potentially dangerous situation from turning violent.