An 18-year-old Zebulon resident is being held without bond after police say he held people against their will overnight, fired a gun near community mailboxes and pickleball courts, and pushed two juveniles to ingest marijuana. Diego Alberto Rijo now faces a stack of felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from the incident, which unfolded in the 1100 block of Channel Drop Loop.
Zebulon police received a report of an armed person holding people against their will and responded to the reported hostage situation overnight, according to ABC11. Charging documents obtained by Fighting Crime News and Who's Wanted allege Rijo pointed a red-and-black .300 Blackout firearm at a victim, told them to back up, and fired multiple rounds into the ground near the mailboxes and pickleball courts. The same documents allege he encouraged two juveniles, ages 16 and 17, to ingest marijuana during the confrontation.
Court records described in the charging documents indicate two victims were unlawfully removed and not released in a safe place, while a third was unlawfully confined — details that help explain the range of kidnapping counts filed against Rijo. Authorities reported no injuries and said there is no ongoing threat to the community, per the station's report.
A Rundown of the Charges
Rijo was charged with two counts of first-degree kidnapping and one count of second-degree kidnapping, along with one count of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of assault by pointing a gun. He also faces two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, one count of disorderly conduct, and one count of going armed to the terror of the people, the same report notes.
That last charge is an unusual one. Going armed to the terror of the people is a North Carolina common-law offense punished as a Class 1 misdemeanor, according to the UNC School of Government, which explains that prosecutors must prove a defendant armed themselves with a dangerous weapon and went out in public in a manner intended to terrify community members. The offense traces back to 19th-century state case law and applies when firearms are displayed or discharged menacingly in public spaces.
The kidnapping charges carry far steeper stakes. Under North Carolina General Statute § 14-39, kidnapping is classified as first-degree — a Class C felony — when a victim is not released in a safe place or suffers serious injury, while second-degree kidnapping, a Class E felony, applies when a victim is released safely without serious injury, according to the Wilkie Law Group. Rijo could face up to 230 months in prison if convicted of first-degree kidnapping, and up to 88 months if convicted of second-degree kidnapping, per ABC11's report.
No Prior Contact at the Home, but a Recent Arrest Nearby
Zebulon police said they had no prior encounters with Rijo and had never been called to the Channel Drop Loop home before, the station reports. But regional court records tell a different part of the story: less than two months before the standoff, Rijo was arrested by the Wake County Sheriff's Office along US 64 in Wendell on June 26, 2026, on charges including felony possession of a synthetic cannabinoid, simple possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance, and possession of marijuana paraphernalia, according to booking records reviewed by America's Top Mugshots. Those same booking records confirm Rijo's residence on Channel Drop Loop.
Resolving the overnight situation took more than Zebulon's own force. The response involved tactical support from four neighboring agencies — the Wake County Sheriff's Office, Wendell Police Department, Knightdale Police Department, and Rolesville Police Department — according to the Town of Zebulon. That coordinated response allowed officers to secure the perimeter and take Rijo into custody without anyone getting hurt.
Rijo requested a court-appointed attorney and is due back in court Monday, September 14 at 9 a.m. Open questions remain about what led to the confrontation, the nature of his relationship to the victims, and whether the firearm involved was legally possessed — details not addressed in the charging documents reviewed so far.
A Fast-Growing Town Grappling With Late-Night Violence
The standoff adds to a string of late-night violent incidents that have rattled the fast-growing town this year, including an April shooting investigation on Mack Todd Road and a May stabbing on Traceway Drive, both previously covered by Hoodline. Zebulon has been one of North Carolina's fastest-expanding towns, recording the state's second-highest municipal growth rate between 2024 and 2025 at 13.9%, according to Carolina Demography, with the town's population having nearly doubled since the 2020 census.
To keep pace, the Town of Zebulon broke ground last year on a combined Fire and EMS facility and invested $4.4 million into local parks and public amenities, according to Hoodline's earlier reporting on the town's growth. Under North Carolina's structured sentencing laws, misdemeanor convictions such as disorderly conduct or going armed to the terror of the people are served in local county facilities, while felony sentences carry state prison time with post-release supervision, per the North Carolina General Assembly. For now, Rijo remains held without bond ahead of his September court date.
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