“He stabbed me but he didn’t mean it”: Fargo man details SWAT arrest of roommate

“When we woke up this morning, he was just a different person. It wasn’t my roommate. It was not him,” the tenant said.

Conover, whom the victim said he met in jail, left his room and came at him with a knife in what the tenant described as an unprovoked attack.

“He stabbed me in the hand, but he didn’t mean it. He just swung like he just wanted me to go away,” he explained.

The victim left his shared apartment unit and called police with neighbors.

Conover remained inside the apartment and refused to exit, barricading himself inside. The Red River SWAT team was requested to assist officers.

Just before 9 a.m., SWAT deployed a chemical irritant into the apartment, resulting in Conover’s surrender. He was taken into custody without further incident.

The apartment was left heavily damaged with glass and debris throughout.

The victim said the attack was completely out of character for his roommate.

“It was the weirdest thing, cause I’ve never ever had him be aggressive towards me. We’ve had a couple incidents but it was never like this. It was dangerous,” he said.

The victim described the situation as a mental health crisis and urged others to seek help before similar situations occur.

“Some people don’t know how to ask for mental health help, and when they do ask half the time, nobody is listening,” he said.

Conover remains in custody at the Cass County Jail.