WARREN (WWJ) – A man has surrendered peacefully after a more than hour-long standoff with Warren police on Wednesday afternoon.
The 41-year-old man has been taken to the hospital for mental evaluation and police officials say there is no threat to the public.
Warren police were called to a home in the 24000 block of Joann Street, near Stephens and Ryan Roads, around 3:15 p.m. after getting a call from a family member asking for a welfare check on the possibly suicidal man.
A third-party caller who was not on scene told police that a family member was currently holding a gun to his head inside the home. The caller was a relative who was able to provide officers with the address as well as some background information on the man.
The man has struggled with mental illness and had access to firearms, the relative told police.
Multiple officers were immediately dispatched to the scene and upon arrival heard several gunshots coming from inside the home. Officers immediately secured the scene, with the Warren Police Special Response Team being activated.
Members of the Warren Police Department Special Response Team and Crisis Negotiations Unit communicated with the man for approximately one hour.
After speaking with him and establishing a rapport, crisis negotiators were able to have the subject exit the home. He was taken into custody without force or injury.
He was then taken to an area hospital for a mental evaluation, according to police.
Investigators and evidence technicians are still on-scene and have executed a search warrant at the home to look for additional evidence. Several firearms have been seized from the residence. Investigators have preliminarily confirmed that the man has documented struggles with mental illness.
Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer thanked the officers and negotiators for working quickly to resolve the situation.
“Members of our Crisis Negotiation Unit and Special Response Team train regularly for these incidents and always strive for a peaceful outcome such as this. It is no secret that police officers are encountering more and more persons with mental illnesses, many of whom have access to firearms. Mental illness is a serious issue; it needs to be taken seriously by everybody,” Dwyer said, per a press release.
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