BOULDER — A man was taken into custody after a hostage situation at a Boulder hair salon on Wednesday morning that police said was an act of domestic violence.
According to the Boulder Police Department, 45-year-old Fidel Jaramillo held a woman hostage inside Hair Rage International near Table Mesa Drive and South Broadway. He forced several others out of the shop and all the stores in The Table Mesa Shopping Center were evacuated.
Jaramillo surrendered to police around 12:30 p.m. and was taken into custody about two hours after the standoff began. He's being held at the Boulder County Jail and will be booked on charges of kidnapping, domestic violence and felony menacing. As the investigation goes on, law enforcement said more charges may be filed.
Jaramillo's criminal past in Colorado dates back to 2003 when he was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon and harassment.
A month later, he was charged with domestic violence in Denver. In 2014, he was charged with felony menacing and second-degree assault.
First called out because of several 911 calls, police said they believed there might have been up to three hostages inside the business. Once Jaramillo surrendered, they figured out it was just the one hostage.
9NEWS spoke to the owner of the salon, Ana Gabriel, who said when the suspect first walked into the business, she thought he was kidding. She said she realized her life was in danger when he held a gun to her chest and told her “I need you to get out” and “give me your cell phone.”
Gabriel and the client she was with both walked out of the salon when they realized the seriousness of the situation.
"I knew in this moment I was truly in danger, that he could kill me," she told 9NEWS.
Police said this was an act of domestic violence and will not be releasing the victim’s name. The woman held hostage, according to Gabriel, had worked at the salon for four or five years. Gabriel said she, her daughter and the hostage work there.
In addition to the evacuation of all the businesses at the shopping center, nearby Fairview High School was placed on a modified lockout due to the police activity, the Boulder Valley School District said in a tweet. Shortly after the suspect was taken into custody, the school returned to normal operations.
The city of Boulder was on accident alert due to the large police response to this situation. That was lifted just after 1 p.m.
Boulder police deployed their SWAT Team, including crisis negotiators. The Regional Boulder County Bomb Squad responded out of an abundance of caution. The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, University of Colorado Boulder Police Department and the Thornton Police Department provided additional assistance.
