A man accused of threatening neighbors with a gun and firing at least one round at San Diego officers was arrested Monday afternoon after a SWAT standoff that lasted about 29 hours in the Mountain View neighborhood, police said.
Officers entered the 68-year-old man’s home around 2:45 p.m. and took him into custody with the help of a police dog. He suffered minor injuries, said police Lt. Adam Sharkey.
The incident began just before 9 a.m. Sunday after a 911 caller reported the man had fired a gun at a home on T Street near South 45th Street. Other calls then tricked into reporting that the man was outside the home, brandishing a gun at neighbors and threatening to kill them, Sharki said.
When patrol officers arrived, they asked the man to come out, but he refused. Eventually, police called in the SWAT team and the department’s emergency negotiation team.
During the standoff Sunday, police used an armored vehicle to knock down fences on the property, then set off tear gas in the home and used a loudspeaker to ask the man to walk out and surrender, according to a video from OnScene TV.
Around 4:45 p.m., the man fired at the officers, who were not hurt and did not return fire, Sharki said. At that point the department asked the residents of the area to shelter in place. Monday morning, Sharki said officers were on hand to escort residents who wanted or needed to leave their homes.
“We’re giving him every chance to come out peacefully,” Sharki said Monday morning.
Armed SWAT officers in tactical gear were staged around an armored vehicle outside the home Monday afternoon. Loud bangs, probably from flash gang grenades, could be heard at the scene, according to OnScene TV footage.
It was not clear what prompted officers to enter the home to arrest him. The man, who is known as Reginald Smith, was expected to be kept in prison on suspicion of attempting to murder a police officer. It was not clear if he was taken to hospital before jail.
Standoffs lasting more than a day are rare but not unheard of. At least two other times a standoff lasted more than 24 hours in San Diego County, according to Union-Tribune archives. Both situations involved hostages.
In 1990, an 18-year-old man from Colorado held a night watchman at gunpoint in a Travelodge hotel room on Harbor Island for nearly 34 hours, until SWAT officers fired tear gas canisters into the room and rushed inside.
Two years later, a homicide suspect held hostages at gunpoint at a Chula Vista medical clinic. He was arrested after a tense 26-hour standoff with police.
Staff reporter Alex Riggins contributed to this report.
5:29 p.m. August 22, 2022: This story was updated with additional information.3:28 p.m. August 22, 2022: This story was updated with additional information.
5:29 p.m. August 22, 2022: This story was updated with additional information.
3:28 p.m. August 22, 2022: This story was updated with additional information.