Scottsdale Standoff Ends in Suicide

A five-hour standoff between the Scottsdale Police Department SWAT team and an armed resident who had barricaded himself in his ex-wife’s home on East Dixileta Street ended Sunday night when the man committed suicide.

According to the Scottsdale police, as a woman and her 12-year-old son were leaving their home, they were confronted by the woman’s ex-husband. He was carrying a gun and tried to pick a verbal fight with her, so she and her son rushed to her car and fled the scene.

She called the police from her cell phone and reported hearing a gunshot as they were driving away — luckily no one was hit or injured.

The first officer on the scene heard another shot coming from inside the house and was quickly told by neighbors that multiple shots had been fired prior to his arrival. The SWAT team was called in, and “15 residents from [six] surrounding homes were evacuated.”

The police established contact with the man, but he stopped responding to their phone calls after 5:30 p.m.

At some point, smoke started pouring out of the chimney, and the police called the fire department. Scottsdale Officer Kevin Watts says the man had tried to set the house on fire, but his efforts failed after the smoke set off the sprinkler system. It’s unclear what time the sprinklers came on and about how much inside of the home was destroyed by fire.

At 7:45, the police released a stun grenade into the home (a stun grenade, sometimes called a flash grenade, is a disorienting non-lethal weapon that explodes with a loud bang and a blinding flash of light) so they could enter.

At 9, police on the scene confirmed that the man was dead and had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Officer Watts tells New Times that while the incident is still under investigation, the woman and her son are safe.

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