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Standoff ends as Las Vegas police take man into custody

Nobody was hurt following an overnight standoff beginning late Wednesday and ending early Thursday morning.

Metropolitan Police Department arrested a man before 4:30 a.m. after a neighborhood between East Charleston Boulevard and Fremont Street near South Bruce Street had been barricaded since Wednesday night.

Lt. CJ Jenkins said police responded to a call of a man standing in a street shooting a gun. When police arrived, the man ran to the house in which he lives.

Jenkins said authorities tried to persuade everybody in the house — three adults at least two children — to leave. A woman, a child and a second adult left the home, but a 1-year-old was left with the suspect, who ignored police pleas to come out.

“Obviously that did not happen, so we had to call out the SWAT,” Jenkins said.

K-9 units also were present.

Authorities, who negotiated through a bullhorn to coax the man to leave the house, could be heard telling him: We know you’re in there. Come out with your hands.

A helicopter circled over the blocked-off area about 4 a.m. The helicopter spotted the man on the roof of the house. Authorities then provided a ladder and coaxed the man down from the roof.

They took him into custody once he climbed down. Jenkins said he’s facing charges related to shooting his gun in the street, although he didn’t specify.

Police evacuated nearby homes during the standoff, but Jenkins wasn’t sure how many families were asked to leave. He said it’s common practice in standoff situations.

Dozens of emergency vehicles continued to converge in the neighborhood about 1 a.m., rousing neighbors and residents.

There was a flash of light and a bang about 3:30 a.m., although the source wasn’t immediately clear.

Amanda Kennon, 38, who lives on Bruce Street, said she came home from her job after 10 p.m. to see the street had been taped off. The mother of three said her kids were in her house sleeping, but police wouldn’t let her drive past the barricade. Kennon and a few other neighbors waiting were outside the 7-11 near the corner of Fremont and Bruce.

Kennon said she’d seen police action in the neighborhood before, but never like the one late Wednesday into early Thursday.

Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.

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