BREMERTON — Bremerton police officers responded to a domestic violence call in the 1400 block of 17th Street around 8 p.m. Sunday.

Lieutenant Randy Plumb, a spokesperson for the Bremerton Police Department, said Officer Ryan Avery was contacted by the mother of the suspect in the middle of the street as he arrived on the scene. Shortly after making contact with the mother, police say Aaron Brock, 37, exited the home wielding a machete.

Brock, Plumb said, raised the machete up as if to ready himself to swing while “yelling things like, ‘I’m going to [expletive] kill you,’ and things of that nature. He was directing those threats both at the officer and the mother.”

“The officer ordered him at gunpoint to put the machete down, ultimately he did comply but did not stop and get down onto the ground, instead he turned back into the house, walked into the house and there officers believed he barricaded himself inside that house,” Plumb said.

After Brock entered the house, police worked to establish a perimeter around the residence, however, when SWAT officers entered the house they found that the suspect had escaped.

“They believe right after he went into the house, he must’ve maybe gone out the back door or somehow got out of the house and got out of the area before they were able to effectively lock it down in the perimeter there,” Plumb said.

Later, around 11:48 p.m. officers received a call that Brock might be hiding around the area of the The Horse & Cow Pub & Grill. When officers arrived, they made contact with Brock and apprehended him without incident.

Plumb said it appeared that Avery acted appropriately and with good restraint and decision-making. The lieutenant added that officers were thankful Brock chose not to continue to approach police while holding the machete, noting that if he had, “things might have turned out differently.”

“We’re thankful that the suspect chose not to do that.”

— Nick Twietmeyer is a reporter with Kitsap News Group. Nick can be reached at ntwietmeyer@soundpublishing.com.