Hours-Long SWAT 'Standoff' Ends As Suspect Wasn't Home: Austin PD

AUSTIN, TEXAS — As they typically do when a suspect is holed up in a home after confirmed or potential acts of violence, police unleash their arsenal of defensive equipment and personnel — SWAT team members, armored vehicles, a bullhorn from which to yell commands in the direction of the hot spot, robotic devices able to get a closer look where humans are unable to go — as they did early Friday at a home in the central east part of the city where a man described as armed, drunk and threatening had barricaded himself.

But after taking the extra step of evacuating nearby residents from their homes and cordoning off the area to deter entry to the neighborhood, police announced some five hours later that the man was never in the house, even as bullhorn-aided commands were being broadcast through the early morning hours the day after Thanksgiving when residents were trying to sleep it off after the annual feast.

A woman believed to be the suspect's wife and two kids were able to escape the house safely during the neighborhood drama that began just before 2 a.m. But by 7:15 a.m., police pithily wrote via Twitter the suspect had not been inside the house after all: "SWAT incident has ended," police wrote on Twitter. "Suspect was not in residence. Officers will remain in the area as the investigation continues."

In an early morning press conference on Friday, an officer told reporters the man was armed and belligerent toward his family. It's unclear still if a weapon was involved or if the man has since been detained as police have not provided further updates.

Among the Austin Police Department arsenal of weapons deployed for such situations, it's unclear if adversarial Wifi sensing, which allows people to "see" through doors; infrared lenses able to detect heat emanating from humans that could be lurking or hiding nearby; police canines that could have picked up a scent or detected the presence of an incongruously positioned human perhaps hiding nearby; or ancillary searches of potential hiding spots in the immediate area around ground zero of the standoff site are part of the mix or were initiated in the early morning hours following Thanksgiving Day when the incident occurred.

From earlier:

AUSTIN, TEXAS — Police early Friday responded to a home in the northeastern part of the city where a man allegedly armed with a firearm had holed himself in a home, prompting evacuation of neighbors.

The incident occurred at around 1:48 a.m. when police received a call from someone in South Austin asking them to check on the well-being of a loved one at the home along the 6800 block of Crystalbrook Drive, Officer Bino Cadenas told reporters at a briefing.

Upon the officers' arrival, Cadenas said, police learned an intoxicated and armed man had threatened his wife and children with violence. Police evacuated residents from surrounding homes given reports of the firearm, Cadenas said, and were able to secure the safe escape of the woman and two children in the house unbeknownst to the suspect.

Despite their success in safeguarding the woman and children, police were locked in a standoff with the man as sunrise approached early Friday. During the impromptu press conference to brief reporters, police could be heard blaring commands with the aid of a bullhorn for the man to exit the home.

Typically in such standoffs, police unleash the full arsenal of equipment — armored vehicles, robots, tear gas and the like — along with members of the force SWAT team and, sometimes, police canines. More often than not, such situations last for hours on end before being resolved.

This is a developing story. Patch will update when more details are known.

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