Detroit barricaded gunman surrenders after police team talks him out of house

Detroit — A police negotiation team Sunday talked a mentally ill barricaded gunman into dropping his weapon and surrendering after he'd been holed up in an east-side home for several hours, police said.

The incident began at about 4:10 p.m. when a 40-year-old man got into an argument with his girlfriend and allegedly assaulted her, Detroit police officer Dan Donakowski said.

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"She was able to escape and call police," Donakowski said. "Officers who responded were able to talk to him at first, but then he barricaded himself inside the house with a gun."

The Detroit Police Special Response Team was deployed to the scene, along with police negotiators.

"After a couple hours, they were able to talk the man out peacefully," Donakowski said.

Detroit police saw a spike in barricaded gunman situations last year. In December, after four men led police on a high-speed chase and staged a standoff inside a Detroit home, police officials said it was the 34th barricaded gunman case they'd responded to in 2020, up from 22 in 2019.

ghunter@detroitnews.com