Saturday, November 22, 1997
Standoff ends peacefully in Brownwood
By PIXIE RAMBO / Correspondent
BROWNWOOD -- A two-hour standoff between an apparently suicidal
Brownwood man and police ended peacefully at about 2:30 p.m. Friday,
with the suspect being taken into protective custody and later
released.
Brownwood police received a call about 12:20 p.m. to respond
to an armed man who was threatening to commit suicide directly
across the street from Woodland Heights Elementary School in the
3900 block of 4th Street.
When police arrived, the man, whose name was not released,
refused to answer his door. Road barricades covered a two-block
area and negotiations between the police and the man began.
Of immediate concern to the police was the safety of the children
in the nearby school. As the negotiations proceeded, children
were moved to classrooms on the opposite side of the school. Parents
of young children who were to leave school early were called to
pick up their children. Parents of children who normally walked
home were also called, said Dr. Don Martin, Superintendent of
the Brownwood Independent School District.
There were unsubstantiated reports of gunfire during the standoff,
but the reports were not confirmed by Brownwood police. Police
did say the school children were never in immediate danger.
"It was all over before the third and fourth grade students
got out of school," Martin said.
Following the two-hour standoff, the suspect was taken into
protective custody without incident.
"The suspect was taken to the Brown County Jail, but no
criminal charges have been filed, and he has since been released,"
said Lt. Bill Stirman of the Brownwood Police Department.
Police said the suspect apparently became distraught while
visiting a doctor and first threatened suicide at the doctor's
office.
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Copyright ©1997,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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