A nearly 11-hour standoff with a wanted Riverton man ended in the early morning hours Thursday with the armed suspect taken into custody without incident, the Riverton Police Department reports.
Ronald Allington, 62, threatened to "shoot-up" Sage West Hospital several months ago and was wanted on an arrest warrant for that, RPD reports. When officers went to his home at 1214 Pinecrest at about 5 p.m. Wednesday, Allington "produced a large knife and handgun."
"He then barricaded himself in a room and refused to surrender," the RPD report continues. "Officers evacuated the nearby neighbors and summoned assistance ..."
More than 30 law enforcement officers responded to surround the house. They were from the Riverton PD, Fremont County DUI Task Force, Lander and Shoshoni police departments and the Fremont County Sheriff's Office. The Natrona County Sheriff's Office's Special Response Team (SWAT) also responded.
After nearly 11 hours of negotiating with Allington, he was tear gassed and taken into custody at about 3:55 a.m., the RPD reports.
He was arrested on the felony warrant for the hospital incident, and faces several charges relating to the standoff.
No law enforcement officers were hurt during the standoff, the report says, and detectives were still processing the scene early Thursday.
Making terroristic threats is a felony which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and fines. Often when police seek to arrest someone who was charged months prior, it’s based on claims that the person violated his bond terms or missed court during his prosecution.
An armored vehicle points at the house. (Clair McFarland, Cowboy State Daily) 
A sniper set up in the bed of a Fremont County Sheriff's Office truck. (Clair McFarland, Cowboy State Daily) 
Riverton and Lander police officers and Fremont County Sheriff’s deputies on Tuesday surrounded a Riverton home with their rifles out in an apparent standoff with a barricaded man. (Clair McFarland, Cowboy State Daily) 
Deputies retrieve something from a set of boxes on the road before walking to the back of the house at the scene of a standoff with a man barricaded inside Tuesday night, April 16, 2025. (Clair McFarland, Cowboy State Daily) 
Riverton Police chief Eric Hurtado speaks with a group of firefighters at the scene of a standoff with a man barricaded in a house Tuesday night, April 16, 2025. (Clair McFarland, Cowboy State Daily)
The Scene
Cowboy State Daily was on scene for much of the standoff and observed officers surround the home Wednesday evening with their rifles out.
An armored vehicle arrived at around 9 pm and lingered in front of the home for much of the evening. Officers negotiated with a neighbor to move his trailer so they wouldn’t have to damage it if they mobilized the armored vehicle.
A neighbor on scene who would only give his surname of Kalbach identified the suspect as Allington, who had barricaded himself in the home when police tried to serve the warrant against him.
Kalbach said he’s reported Allington numerous times for threats of physical violence.
Law enforcement removed the man’s mother from the home, and there were no hostages, said Kalbach.
Kalbach said he watched officers go into the home early during the incident, but they retreated.
Allington produced “a weapon,” said the Riverton Police Department in a statement later that evening.
The outlet arrived near the surrounded home, 1214 Pinecrest, at 6:15 p.m. to find Fremont County Undersheriff Mike Hutchison retrieving a rifle and shield from his truck, and numerous law enforcement personnel surrounding the home, also with rifles.
Firefighters arrived soon after as a precautionary support, the Riverton Volunteer Fire Department told Cowboy State Daily.
Bill Fultz, the next-door neighbor of the surrounded home, said a mother and son live there. The son does not come outside much, Fultz added.
Several snipers were positioned.
Officers on scene called over a loud speaker repeatedly to “Ron.”
“Come through the front door with your hands up and get this taken care of,” called the voice. “We’re not going anywhere.”
At around 7:48 p.m. the voice urged “Ron” to let law enforcement take him into custody so they could “get your mom back in the house.”
A drone hovered along the back of the house at that time.
At 8:45 p.m., Natrona County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Casper and Mills Police Department officers arrived on scene.
An armored vehicle was parked in front of the house starting at 9:45 p.m.
Some people watching the scene gathered on local man Blake Snyder’s roof to see the house above the haze of blue and red patrol-vehicle lights and the roar of a staged fire engine than ran for hours.
Emergency medical personnel were also staged on scene.
At around 11, harsh shouting and breaking glass sounded from the home. The negotiations grew more insistent, with the law enforcement officer on the loudspeaker trying to coax Allington to the front door. The officer promised a hot meal and medical care.
“I need you to take just two more steps to your left,” called the voice, which also urged Allington to lie down in front of the front door.
The temperature dropped substantially at around midnight. By then, only the firefighters, the neighbors who were blocked out of their homes due to the crime scene, and a couple especially curious neighbors remained on scene. Before that point, however, the scene had drawn a large crowd.
In the cold, fire fighters sat on sidewalks and concrete driveways and porch steps. Law enforcement personnel remained on scene, changing locations intermittently.
Kalbach and multiple acquaintances of Allington confirmed that his face matched the profile photograph of an alias Facebook account under the name “Ron Martin,” which was posting during the event.
“Thier (sic) going to kill me,” wrote the account early in the evening. The account holder commented under that post that he had a deep cut on his head.
Numerous commenters urged “Ron” to surrender peacefully.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com and Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
