BOSTON — Firefighters were confronted by a knife-wielding man at the scene of a house fire in Boston Tuesday.
Crews were able to disarm the man and restrain him before police arrived, according to the Boston Herald.
The suspect, Huan Yuan Li, was later charged with arson, assault with a dangerous weapon and hindering responders.
Police say Li set fire to the apartment, where the body of an elderly woman was later found.
“He was acting combatively,” Commissioner Edward F. Davis said. “He was armed with a weapon. The firefighters disarmed him and restrained him for police.”
Boston Fire spokesman Steve MacDonald said as crews were extinguishing the fire, a firefighter encountered a man in the living room who was “combative and tried to stab the firefighter, lunging at him while threatening to jump from a window.
“When he turned his back on the firefighter, that’s when the firefighter grabbed him,” MacDonald said.