ONLY ON WWAY: Wilmington man charged in hours-long standoff tells his story

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The man involved in a nearly 10-hour standoff with police in Wilmington made his court appearance on Tuesday afternoon.

Before it, Reginald Wilkins spoke with Reporter Sydney Bouchelle in an interview only with WWAY.

During the interview, Wilkins changed his story a few times but continually summed it up as a misunderstanding.

He says he returned to the Creekwood community to get his bike after being released on an unsecured bond for trespassing earlier in the evening on Monday. That’s when he says he found his girlfriend in the parking lot of his grandmother’s home, they got into a fight, and police were called.

Wilkins says he then ran to his grandma’s house and eventually barricaded himself inside her upstairs bathroom.

Wilkins insists he did not shoot at officers, instead he says he shot off fireworks and officers then returned fire. Wilmington police say Wilkins did in fact have a handgun and shot at officers, who say they never returned fire.

Wilkins says he remained inside the home for so long because he feared for his life.

“I felt like if I would have come out, he would have taken my life,” Wilkins said. “Basically, my thoughts in my head, I wanted to wait until daylight so everyone could see it. When they were talking to me on the intercom, there was this one officer and I didn’t want to come out there because he was there. If someone else was there, I would have come out. Because he was there, I didn’t want to come out but once I saw it was daylight and other people around and I could come out, I came out.”

Wilkins says he wanted to hear his grandmother’s voice and Wilmington Police shared a recording with him.

“I heard my grandma’s voice, but through the tear gas I kept passing out so I couldn’t get myself up,” he said. “So point in time and day I got up and I realized it was daytime. I said, oh I got to get up. So I yell, ‘is anybody out there?’ As soon as I go to the window, I see a sniper’s head, ‘there he is! there he is!’ And he points a gun at me. The first thing I see was a red beam so I ran back to the bathroom. It was crazy. I ran back to the bathroom and he was like, ‘come on out! come on out!’ I said, ‘you know what I’m coming out with my hands up!'”

Wilkins acknowledges his extensive criminal history, but insists that is his past. He says he is trying to better himself by being a positive person, being involved in the community and being with family.

“Once I get out of here, you ain’t gotta worry about me carrying no guns and being around no police,” Wilkins said. “All I want to do is be around my family. I want to hold my little son. He is one year old, about to turn two.”

Wilkins says his main concern right now is the safety of his grandmother. He repeatedly said he hoped she was okay and she wasn’t worried about him.

WPD says drugs are suspected, but not confirmed.

He is charged with the following:
1 count of second-degree trespassing
1 count of attempted first-degree burglary
6 counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a government official

He is in the New Hanover County jail under a $500,000 secured bond.