Saurus, we got to go. Hey, this this fire is getting big. I know. We need to go in now. Let's go. Come here. Come here. Hey, you're still inhaling that smoke. Officers are pushed into a do-or-die moment where 1-year-old is trapped by his father's violent spree followed by his insane move to set the house on fire. Is there any exits out of the bathroom? No. Any exits out of the Any vents that somebody can like crawl through? >> No. No. With the fire spreading by the minute and all entries locked, officers only have their bravery to race against time and do everything they can to save an innocent life. At around 3:20 a.m. on June 25th, 2022, dispatchers in North Highlands, California, are abruptly left hanging during a mother's 911 call, immediately sending cops to the 3900 block of Madison Avenue where tensions are visibly unfolding. Hello. What's going on? The father's in there breaking stuff with my son in there. I need you guys to get him out. Okay. Yeah. We have been trying to tell him to leave, and he won't leave. Okay, does he live here? No. Okay, where does he live? In West Sacramento. Huh? In West Sacramento. Okay, and he's He's supposed to be on a visit with my kids, >> Uh-huh. and he's not leaving. Okay. And he We had a couple drinks together, Uh-huh. and he um went a little far. Uh-huh. So, I asked my daughter to go use the phone upstairs because he broke our phones. So, when I want to call. So, he's in there and he knows if you're around here, he's going to flip his script and keep my kids in there and hurt them. Okay, so I need to like go in back in there so he doesn't hurt my kids. Okay, wait wait a second. Is there any weapons in there or anything like that? >> No. Okay, can we go in there and talk with him? Please. Okay. Officer see a large red bruise on the woman's back inflicted by and also learns she has an active restraining order against her estranged boyfriend who is acting erratically. But this is only the beginning of a harrowing encounter. Where is it? I don't know where my son is in there. Okay. Are they asleep? Yes. So, they're asleep? My daughter's not, she's in her room. And my son is asleep. I don't know where he's in the room right now. Okay. Is does the door lock? It's locked. I don't know where he is. I don't know where he is. Okay. What's his name? Okay. Please, don't let him hurt my son. Notably, the door is broken and barricaded by 34-year-old Brandon Falconer who will be a nightmare from the second he comes face to face with officers. He's in there. Hey. Let me see your hands. Let me see your hands. Hey, call for another unit. Hey. I don't know what he's possibly going to do. I'm worried about my son. Ma'am, step back. Put the knife Put the knife down. Give us a second. We got a code three additional units. Come here. Leave that kid. Officer on the way. Okay, come here. Get back. Things are already menacing as the suspect has a knife to his child's throat and doesn't seem interested in listening to the cops. Listen to me, man. Hey, I just want to talk with you. Let me see the kid. HEY, HE'S A CHILD, MAN. Let me see the kid. He will do IT. HEY, STAY INSIDE THE ROOM. STAY INSIDE THE ROOM. HEY, NO, THAT'S NOT what we want to do, man. Hey, look. HEY, GUNS GO AWAY. I JUST WANT YOU TO PUT THE KNIFE DOWN, MAN. COME HERE, let me see the kid. Put the kid down. Hey, hey, gun man. Hey, guns are going to go away, dude. I don't want the kid to get hurt, man. Come here. Listen to me, man. Hey, please, dude. I'm I'm asking you, please. Let me see the kid, man. As the suspect sounds enraged at the mother, the other officer quickly escorts her off the scene, and tries to approach the bedroom from outside. But, this only adds fuel to the fire. Look at my gun. Do you have Look, it's down. It's down. IT'S DOWN. LOOK. LOOK, OKAY, IT'S DOWN. HEY, HEY. STOP. HEY, DUDE. LET ME TALK with you. Let me talk with YOU. MY GUN GO AWAY, MAN. OKAY? LET ME Let Please. OKAY, LOOK. MY GUN'S GOING AWAY. OKAY, LOOK. MY GUN'S GOING AWAY. LOOK. LOOK. LISTEN TO ME. OKAY, LOOK. IT'S DOWN. IT'S DOWN. OKAY, LOOK. It's down. What's his last name? What's going on, man? Look. Hey, I'll put my gun down. Gun's going Take me to the car. Take me to the car. Hey. Look, look, Look, I'm putting my gun away, dude. Okay? The suspect is adamant about his terms, prompting the leading officer to change his approach, this time showing sympathy and seeking to know his side of the story. What's going on? What's going on? What started all this? Started punching me. Okay. Is that Is there a child >> drinking. She drank half a bottle of alcohol, too. Okay. So, so check it out, man. Let's put the kid down and let me talk to you about this. >> down cuz I already know what's going to happen. So, go ahead and get her to go sleep. Okay. Well, check it out, dude. I just want the kid to be okay. That's it. What's your child's name? But the situation spirals further into chaos, with the suspect increasingly growing volatile, trying to force an outcome no one wants. Hey, put just let's just put the knife down. >> here. Let's No, no, no. SHOOT ME RIGHT HERE, TOO. SHOOT! HEY, that's not what we WANT TO DO. SHOOT! SHOOT ME! WHAT SHOOT ME RIGHT THERE! SHOOT ME! NO. SHOOT ME! PLEASE. >> Shoot me, please! Let me Let me just Let me just speak to you with the knife down, okay? I'll put my gun down. >> Shoot me! I'll put my gun down. >> hit you. No. That's not what we're doing. Hey, we're not trying to hurt anybody. We're not trying to Focus on me. No one's listening. Focus on me. No one's listening. Focus on me, man. No one's listening. Hey. This is not This is not what we want to do. I want to talk with you, man. That's it. Okay, can we put the kid down? Yeah, that's what we're doing. Look at He He got a beautiful kid right there, man. I know I got a kid right here. >> Okay. Hey, he's a beautiful kid. Let me Let him come out, man. You don't need to be doing this. Okay, what do you want to talk about? I don't want to talk to you no more. What can we do? You can't do nothing. No, there's something that we can do. You tell me. Tell me what we can do. I'm I'm I'm I'm reasonable, man. Talk to me. Huh? Shoot me right here. No. Hey, I'm not We're not doing that, bro. >> I'm going to do that, dude. Put the head down, please. No. >> going to do that. Please, just shoot me in the No. No. We're not doing that. No. Hey. Let's Let's talk about What do you want to tell your wife? Come here. HEY, IT'S OKAY. >> [screaming] >> HEY. >> [screaming] >> HEY. HEY, YOUR CHILD'S RIGHT THERE. LISTEN TO ME. I NEED YOU TO STOP SCREAMING CUZ YOU'RE SCARING YOUR CHILD. I need you to I need you to LISTEN TO ME. YES. WITH THE SITUATION DEADLOCKED, the suspect only wants to talk to the mother. Despite all efforts, officers see no positives. However, they continue negotiating looking for an opportunity to apprehend the suspect. Why not? How is it going to end? No. What you're thinking is probably going to shoot you. It's not going to happen, man. It's not going to happen. Okay? Our concern is about with you and you and the child, okay? Okay, what Well, like my partner just said, what do you want to talk to your wife about? Little do the officers know that their presence would soon backfire in a horrific way, triggering havoc in the house. Hey, your couch is on fire. Everything's on fire. You got Fire department Okay. He's got a knife to the child. We can't push it cuz he's putting a knife to the child's neck. Right. But I understand that. In a frightening turn of events, the suspect retaliates, setting the bedroom and bathroom area on fire, not realizing how massive a mistake this will soon turn into. Hey, your your your son can't be in there, dude. Yeah. Your son can't be in there. The smoke and the fire in the bedroom Yeah, there's smoke in there. Probably the rest of the door. There's smoke in there. Your kid doesn't need to be smelling that. Hey, your kid doesn't need to be in there with that smoke. >> Dude, what's going on in this? Yeah. Listen to me, bro. Your son can't be inhaling that smoke. Get my wife. Get out of the apartment. Dude, we want to get lights and fans on in the apartment. >> Just calm down. Calm down. And calm down. Every second you waste killing me. He doesn't He doesn't need to be calling me. The flames are growing, bombarding officers with multiple priorities. While saving the child is the main target, a team of officers first evacuates neighbors before looking for an alternative entry to the bathroom. We just want to find out if the bathroom is there. Any other exits out of the bathroom? Okay. Is there any exits out of the bathroom? No. Any exits at all? Any vents that somebody can like go through? >> No. No. Nothing. Just a slider in the hallway. And her bedroom. There is no way to save the day without entering the blazing space, and although the fire trucks are on their way, the situation is still heading south. Hey, there's too much smoke in there. Yeah, I know. Come on out, man. Yeah, I was. Dude, the kid the And and your wife's out here. We don't want anyone to get hurt, dude. We just want to come out and talk to you. We don't want your baby to get hurt. That's the biggest thing, all right? Right now, you're not making this like this is low-level, man. You can still recover from this, but we need to get out of here. Get her. GET MY WIFE. THIS FIRE'S GETTING Just too much smoke. Just too much smoke. No, I mean, rifle in here. Sarge, we got to go. Hey, this this fire is getting big. I know. We need to go in now. Let's go. No, no, no, no, no. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Officers are helpless with their fear rising for the 2-year-old's life. It affects officers' mental state as well as their ability to make an effective move. They're inside there. I can't see. Too much [ __ ] smoke. Fire is still burning. We have fire coming in. I got it. I got it. I'll come in. Where's the fire? It's right It's still at the bottom. Is he still alive and He's still alive and moving. I have baby in my arms right here. Okay. We need to catch him. You want to get a catcher? Let's go. Good. Good. There's no There's no There's no wall right there. He's inside of the bathroom. Yep. There's way too much smoke. I can't see anything past the second pillar. So, if you go in, I can't see you at all. The suspect retreats to the bathroom with the baby. This is a do-or-die situation. Officers must figure something out soon to make their own way to the bathroom. Kick in this door. See what we have to do to break through into the bathroom. This is when one of the cops comes up with a radical move. The only feasible option right now. 141 141, go ahead. 241 Go ahead. that's it. We have no choice but [clears throat] to hold right now. No, cuz then if you get smoke insulated and you drop on the bed, then what? It's not worth it, dude. Okay. Which is this? I don't know which is it. Do I go parallel to where the bathroom is? Which is the far far back wall? To the left. Break it. Oh god. Can you just Apparently, the interiors in all apartments are similar, giving officers an opportunity to use the adjacent apartment's bathroom to break through to where the suspect and baby are. By the time the fire officials arrive, the fire has grown massive, posing a danger to the entire line of apartments. Keep pushing. Go. Go. Keep doing it. Keep trying to break it open. Watch out. What's the problem here? Right here. It's just on the other side of the wall. It's their bathroom. He keeps coming out. If we can get that cut down, we can get him out. I'm not sure. I know there's at least two to three people in here. If we find where they cut a hole, we can go in and deal with him if he starts fighting. >> Okay. Although the plan to breach through from the other side of the wall is foolproof, officers face difficulty due to the apartment's structural barriers. When axes and other equipment fail, an officer grabs a chainsaw to speed up the process. Can you guys see in there? Can you see? How did that happen? >> [music] >> Unfortunately, the environment has become insufferable due to the smoke, and soon the chainsaw ends up cutting electrical wires, shutting off the apartment's power, which then dies out. Keep breaching. The door is locked. Can you see anything in there? No, we can't see. But with or without oxygen, officers continue breaching the wall for the next 5 minutes, and eventually they are able to break through to the bathroom. But things are not looking good inside, as they see the man unresponsive in the bathtub with the water running. Officers want the baby, and it takes them a few seconds to spot a tiny foot, and realize that the baby is also in the bathtub under the suspect. We got the fire now, we're good. Break it down. The baby is unresponsive, and his nostrils hint he has inhaled a hazardous amount of smoke. >> The baby is quickly provided with life assistance and in a few moments he regains consciousness. Potentially the water running over the baby in the bathtub helped him avoid severe injury from the fire. But a harrowing task remains to secure the male suspect. With intense effort he is dragged out of the danger zone. He's unconscious but luckily alive. On July 13th, 2022 Brandon Falconer faces multiple charges including arson and attempted murder. Taking into account the hazardous nature of Brandon's act which could have injured many more he is sentenced to 25 years in prison.