YPSILANTI, Mich. (WXYZ) — A standoff in Ypsilanti ended Monday night, where police say a man barricaded himself inside a home with a sword for more than 30 hours.
Police were in a stalemate with the 53-year-old man on West Cross Street. He was believed to be armed with a sword and hiding in the attic.
Using flash bangs, tear gas and a loudspeaker, police worked to get him out peacefully. The incident ended around 10:30 p.m. He was safely taken into custody. No one was hurt.
Watch our coverage as police were at the scene below:
"This has been happening since noon yesterday," said Nester Makhno, a neighbor.
Wasthenaw County crisis negotiators — flanked by SWAT team members — worked since 2:30 p.m. Sunday to get the man outside safely after charging Ypsilanti officers with a sword in one hand and a stick in the other, according to the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office.
The initial call came in just after 12:30 p.m. Sunday; police say the man tried getting into a neighbor's home. Officers then went to his West Cross Street home’s door, where the man allegedly confronted police holding the weapons.
A concerned neighbor, who did not want to be named, told 7 News Detroit that the man practices martial arts, and that his mother-in-law lives on the first floor of the home.
"He was having a really hard week, and a wellness check was called, and it's managed to escalate into basically a highly militarized situation," the neighbor said. "The SWAT has taken over our block and occupied it and created this perimeter and has maintained."
Police believed he kept popping in and out of the home's attic, but didn't know the home's exact footprint.
"I hope that he comes out of this OK, and I hope our neighborhood is able to come together and have a real talk about what safety means to us because certainly it's not this," said Finn Bell, another neighbor, before the standoff ended.
Ypsilanti's police chief says officers have been called to this home at least one other time in the 48 hours leading up to this incident, but he didn't know the reason for that call.
