12-Hour North Austin Police Standoff Ends Peacefully

NORTH AUSTIN, TX — A 12-hour standoff with police came to an end after the suspect's arrest on Friday morning.

The incident began at 8:30 p.m. along the 11000 block of Shallow Water Road, officer Jeremy Bohannon told reporters in a press conference staged right before midnight. Amid reports from witnesses the person holed up inside a home could be armed, Bohannon said, a SWAT team was dispatched to the site and nearby residents were evacuated from their homes as an added precaution.

By 8:30 a.m. on Friday, the standoff had been peacefully resolved, police updated on Twitter. Police generally respond with the full arsenal of military-grade equipment — armored vehicles, bomb-defusing robots, smoke bombs and the like — when receiving reports of a person possibly being armed.

Such was the case last night, when police got reports of some sort of domestic disturbance at the home on the city's furthest northern reach on the edges of Pflugerville. In updating the end of their SWAT operation, police did not indicate if the person was armed nor they provide a gender or other identifying characteristics.

"Apologies for the lack of Periscope," police began in their Friday morning update, referring to lack of a live feed featuring an officer detailing a case as is usually done. "There were many tactical considerations which made this particular call go so long," police added without providing details. "The loud bangs heard were distraction devices to get the attention of the suspect and to open up lines of communication with our crisis negotiation team."

The Austin Police Department acknowledged the assistance of their counterparts in Travis and Williamson counties for having assisted with additional resources during the long standoff.

From earlier:

NORTH AUSTIN, TX — A SWAT standoff that began Thursday evening in far North Austin continued late into the night as police tried to coax a barricaded person from exiting a home.

The incident began at 8:30 p.m. along the 11000 block of Shallow Water Road, officer Jeremy Bohannon told reporters in a press conference staged right before midnight. Amid reports from witnesses the person could be armed, Bohannon said, a SWAT team was dispatched to the site and nearby residents were evacuated from their homes as an added precaution.

"Once it's completed, I'll hopefully have some good news for you guys, and we'll have additional information about this call," Bohannon said. But for the time being, he added, the scene remained active, and residents were urged to avoid the area.

The officer did not offer a description of the barricaded person nor did he indicate how many people were inside the home.

Patch will update once more details are shared.