OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – An alarming situation in Northwest Oklahoma City, that prompted an Amber Alert to be sent out, ended peacefully on Monday. 

“Any time you’ve got somebody armed like that, they’re upset or threatening to do harm to a baby, obviously that’s going to get our attention,” said Mgst. Gary Knight with the Oklahoma City Police Department. 

According to Knight, authorities rushed to a home on Northwest 172nd St. in Oklahoma City for a domestic call between 3-month-old A’Layah Atkins’ mother and Patrick Cory Atkins, A’layah’s biological father.

“When officers arrived at this residence, a woman described her ex as coming over, having a gun, armed with a gun, threatening her,” said Knight. “He had taken the child at gunpoint and actually at some point threatened to harm the child.”

Police said the two were later found at Patrick Atkins’ girlfriends’ house near Quail Springs mall in Oklahoma City. A’Layah was unharmed and Patrick Atkins was arrested. 

Experts from Child Find of America, a non-profit that aims to prevent and resolve child abductions and family conflicts, told KFOR parental abductions are the most common type, sharing the striking statistic that 300,000 to 500,000 happen each year. 

“The terribly high numbers of parental abductions would fall under the category of high conflict parenting apart situations,” said Shari Doherty, Child Find of America’s program director. “Basically, of the reasons would be that there has been unresolved conflict, but there also may be a lot of safety matters.”

Atkins was booked in the Oklahoma County Detention Center.