HOUSTON – A SWAT scene at a home in east Houston where an armed man had barricaded himself inside has ended, police said.
The incident started around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday when police responded to a domestic violence call at the home on Schweikhardt Street and Coke Street, police said.
“When officers arrived, they met a female who had injuries to her face, pretty significant injuries, a lot of bruising and cuts to her face," said Lt. Rick Besselman, with the Houston Police Department. "She said she was assaulted by her boyfriend.”
The woman was able to make it out safely, but police said the man’s 1-year-old daughter was believed to be inside with him.
“She was able to run out of the apartment, she was not able to bring the baby out," Besselman said. "The baby was left behind in the apartment with the suspect, he is the biological father. (The woman) reported that he did have a pistol inside the apartment, and he does have a criminal history. So, the officers set a perimeter around the apartment and tried to talk him out. He refused to come out and barricaded.”
Police said the man has multiple open felony warrants, including one in Fort Bend County for possession of a controlled substance and two in Harris County -- one for possession of a controlled substance and another for strangulation as a result of Tuesday morning’s dispute.
The hours-long standoff ended just before 7 a.m. and the man was taken into custody, police said.
“About 6:45 this morning, the suspect voluntarily came out of his apartment and was taken into custody by SWAT officers,” Besselman said. "There appears to be no injuries to the child. (The man) just said he was scared to come out. My personal belief is he just didn’t want to go to jail. He knew he had some open felony warrants and he was facing jail time, but he was scared. He was crying on the phone. We honestly don’t know what changed his mind ... He just made the decision to walk out at that point.”
Police said the woman was taken to a hospital and is expected to be OK.