MONROE, La. (KTVE/KARD) — On March 11, 2023, the Monroe Police Department was dispatched to a Windsor Inn apartment on Washington Street. A 911 caller contacted authorities to notify them that her friend and two other people were allegedly being held inside an apartment by 22-year-old Noah Mills, and he would not allow them to leave.
When officers arrived on the scene, contact was made with the people inside the apartment. The occupants rushed out of the apartment once officers opened the door.
Officers were informed that Mills was allegedly inside the apartment armed with a shotgun and claimed that he would leave the apartment in a body bag. During questioning with the victims, officers discovered that Mills had entered the apartment uninvited and armed with a shotgun.
Once Mills gained entry into the apartment, he held the three occupants of the apartment hostage and threatened to kill them if they tried to leave or let anyone inside, including the police. While making these threats to the occupants, who were afraid that Mills would kill them, Mills had the shotgun pointed at them.
When authorities arrived, Mills retreated to the closet, which gave the victims time to make an escape from the apartment. Despite officers’ multiple demands for Mills to exit the apartment, he continued to refuse their request.
The Monroe Police Department SWAT team was activated due to Mills being armed and making threats to end his life. After a long standoff, officers eventually entered the apartment and apprehended Mills without incident.
Mills still had his shotgun in his possession when officers took him into custody. Due to a previous conviction, he is not allowed to have a firearm.
The investigation uncovered that the apartment where the incident took place belonged to Mills’s previous girlfriend. Mills and the victim were together for two years, and she was also one of the hostages.
During the couple’s relationship, they would live together on and off, and they also shared a four-week-old infant who was not present during the incident. The victims stated that they did not feel that they could freely leave the apartment and were fearful that Mills would have killed them.
Mills was issued the following charges:
- 3 Counts Second Degree Kidnapping
- Aggravated Burglary
- Aggravated Assault Upon a Dating Partner
- Resisting an Officer
- 2 Counts Aggravated Assault with Firearm
- Carrying of a Concealed Weapon by a Person Convicted of Domestic Abuse Battery