An eight-hour standoff in Southwest Baltimore ended peacefully Wednesday evening when police took into custody a man who had barricaded himself and his young son inside a Morrell Park home, police said.
About 6 p.m., police announced the man was in custody. Nearly three hours earlier, he had released his son. The child was unharmed.
The standoff began when officers attempted to serve an arrest warrant about 10 a.m. in the 1900 block of Harman Ave. The man indicated he had a weapon and went inside his home with the boy, said Baltimore police spokesman T.J. Smith during a Wednesday afternoon news briefing. The officers then backed off and police department negotiators were called to the scene.
Smith declined to name the man, but said police believed he was armed with a handgun. He said police were attempting to serve an arrest warrant out of Baltimore for second-degree burglary.
"We are very hopeful we can resolve this peacefully," he said, while the barricade continued.
Smith referred to a recent hostage situation at a nearby Burger King that ended peacefully but took several hours until they were resolved.
He said, "Safety is paramount in this situation. That's where we are, trying to make sure everyone comes out of this situation safe."
Smith also said the department has also been in contact with members of the man's family.
Last month, a Baltimore County police officer fatally shot 23-year-old Korryn Gaines at her Randallstown apartment after an hours-long standoff. Police had gone to the apartment to serve arrest warrants on her and her boyfriend when police said Gaines threatened the officers.
After several hours, an officer with the tactical unit shot Gaines after she had pointed her Mossberg shotgun at the officer and threatened to kill him, county police said. Gaines' 5-year-old son, Kodi, was also shot in the cheek.
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