An armed man who barricaded himself inside a northwest side home for more than two hours eventually surrendered peacefully to police Monday.
Police responded to a home in the 1700 block of Wisteria Place where a 39-year-old man who was reported to be upset, suicidal and armed with a long gun, was barricaded inside, Fort Wayne police spokeswoman Raquel Foster said.
The man’s parents were able to flee the home before police arrived. Foster said police were called at 10:59 a.m. and the police department’s Emergency Services Team, also known as a SWAT team, and Crisis Response Team were sent to the scene at 12:26 p.m.
Two homes adjacent to the house where the man was barricaded were evacuated, while police tried several times unsuccessfully to contact the man. The man eventually did answer and said he wanted to surrender peacefully. He surrendered at 1:36 p.m. and was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation, Foster said.
Foster said she did not expect any criminal charges to be filed against the man. She also didn’t know whether he lived at the home or was visiting.
“At this time there is nothing to suggest that he committed any type of crime,” she said. “He surrendered peacefully.”
Police did not release the identity of the man.
The home is in a cul-de-sac inside the Falls of Keefer Creek subdivision off of Lima Road just south of Carroll Road.
During the standoff, members of the SWAT team surrounded the home, with more than a dozen police cars blocking off Wisteria Place and portions of Deer Lodge Place.
Mike Zoretich, who lives in the subdivision, was leaving for work during the standoff when he saw police cars blocking the street.
Zoretich said he knew police were in the neighborhood because a friend driving by told him about seeing all the police cars.
“It really is a shock because that hasn’t happened in our area,” Zoretich said.
“It’s kind of scary. You think you know who is around you and then something like this happens. You never know what’s going to happen.”
Zoretich said it is a quiet neighborhood with residents who walk their dogs frequently.
