The Riverton suspect in an 11-hour standoff with numerous police agencies this week thrust a Samurai-style katana sword through his bedroom door when police went to arrest him on a warrant Wednesday evening, and produced what looked like a Sig Sauer pistol that was actually a BB gun, the police chief says.
Ronald “Ron” Allington, 62, was arrested at about 4 a.m. Thursday after a prolonged standoff that involved dozens of law enforcement officers, two armored vehicles and tear gas. The back of the home was torn open. No one was shot in the incident.
Allington was taken to the local hospital for minor injuries then cleared for booking into the Fremont County Detention Center, Riverton Police Chief Eric Hurtado told Cowboy State Daily on Friday.
Allington was posting during the incident from a Facebook account under the alias “Ron Martin.” He wrote that he had a deep cut on his head and, “Thier (sic) going to kill me.”
Hurtado declined to confirm the exact nature of Allington’s injuries.
Police later found marijuana in the home, Hurtado added. A Friday evening statement by RPD says they found a bloodied knife.
Allington had been wanted since November for failing to attend a sentencing hearing where he was set to get probation for allegedly threatening to shoot up the local hospital, court documents say.
The chief said no one had seen Allington since his missed his court date, but that “the house has been under surveillance since his arrest warrant was issued.”
Allington has lived for several years on Pinecrest Street in Riverton with his mother. The home is listed as belonging to Allington’s mother. She was in the garage when the standoff started, and authorities were able to get her to safety, said Hurtado.
The back of the home on Pinecrest Street in Riverton that Ron Allington shares with his mother - after an 11-hour law enforcement standoff Wednesday and Thursday. (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) 
An armored vehicle points at the house. (Clair McFarland, Cowboy State Daily) 
(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)
The Katana
Riverton officers received a tip this week that Allington was at the house, and they went to arrest him, said Hurtado. Allington also was wanted on a warrant issued last week for violating his probation in a misdemeanor-level marijuana possession case.
About six officers went to the home to arrest him Wednesday evening. That number was on the high side because multiple agencies were in town collaborating on a DUI task force, said Hurtado.
“The officers were at the bedroom door trying to get him to surrender when a katana — samurai sword — blade went through the door,” said Hurtado. “The sword narrowly missed the officers.”
Police deployed tear gas into Allington’s window at some point.
Allington produced what looked like a handgun and "pointed it at officers through a rear bedroom window,” added Hurtado.
The weapon resembled a Sig Sauer pistol, said the chief, but it was a BB gun.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
