The boy left the house Thursday night. Bonner County prosecutor Phil Robinson says the teen indicated that he would help them end the standoff. Robinson says that the boy may be able to persuade his siblings that nothing bad will happen to them. Five children, aged eight to 16, have refused to leave the house since Tuesday, when their mother was arrested. She is believed to be mentally ill, and was arrested Tuesday for alleged felony injury to a child.
Authorities say that the children are well-armed and experienced with guns.
While there, the boy accepted the neighbor's offer to drive him to a meeting with authorities. The boy met with a sheriff's deputy, a social worker and doctors. Robinson says that there was some indication that he was suffering from malnutrition, but he says that the boy did not need to be hospitalized and is in the custody of the state Department of Health and Welfare. When deputies attempted to take the kids into protective custody, they became defensive. Another child then released 27 dogs that attacked a deputy and a neighbor, police said.