NE Austin Standoff Ends Peacefully After 10 Hours (Updated)

NORTH AUSTIN, TX — An hours-long standoff with a man barricaded in his home that prompted area school lockouts ended peacefully in the northeast part of the city on Monday, police said.

Someone called police to ask police to check on a man's welfare, prompting officers to visit the home along the 6200 block of Haney Drive just after 9 a.m. Police peeking through the window noticed the man was armed with a gun, a police officer later told reporters, prompting the dispatching of a SWAT team to help coax the man out of the building.

As a precaution, nearby Harris Elementary School and Bertha Sadler Means Young Women's Leadership Academy were both locked down to ensure students' safety, campus police said via Twitter. As an added safeguard, police said nearby residents also were evacuated from their homes.

Some ten hours later, police had the man in custody without incident. Police declined to specify the SWAT measures that were taken to coax the man out, including implements residents reported as making loud explosion-like sounds. An officer briefing reporters said the tools were meant to distract the person inside the home.

Officer Marie Bynum briefed reporters in the aftermath of the incident late Monday:

Officer Destiny Wilson provided the first briefing related to the incident as the barricade continued on Monday:

The incident marked the second time in a week the Austin Police Department has sent its full SWAT arsenal in attempting to end a standoff in an oft-used tactic by the local force. On the opposite side of town last week in South Austin a week ago, another hours-long standoff ended when the man inside the home confronted with the full police SWAT arsenal was ultimately found dead.

In last week's May 6 incident, an Austin Police Department SWAT team was called to the 7500 block of St. Amant Place near Brodie Lane and William Cannon Drive at around 3:30 p.m. before the incident ended at around 8 p.m. Initially sparked by a domestic disturbance, the police response grew more robust after police suspected the man might have weapons. Police found the man dead after gaining entry into the home, an officer told reporters in a subsequent briefing.

On April 18, another SWAT response was called to the 2300 block of Westoak Drive amid reports of an "armed and suicidal" man barricaded inside. The man ultimately surrendered peacefully. That same month, on April 7, a police SWAT team was dispatched to a North Austin home on Sunday afternoon after officers responded to a call to check on the welfare of a resident there. That incident began as a domestic disturbance between a man and woman, with the latter accused of cutting the former with a knife. The standoff ended with the woman in custody and the male victim taken to a hospital for treatment of his injuries.

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Previous story:

NORTHEAST AUSTIN, TX — A pair of North Austin schools were on lockout on Monday while police descended to a nearby home where a person had barricaded himself.

Harris Elementary School and Bertha Sadler Means Young Women’s Leadership Academy were both placed on lockout as a precautionary measures. Police responded to the 6200 block of Haney Drive in East Austin after receiving a "check welfare" call to a home near the corner of Berkman Drive and Wheless Lane.

Police said the man is believed to be armed, resulting in the rolling out of its paramilitary equipment and SWAT team in an effort to prompt the man to exit the home. Residents are urged to avoid the area for the time being.