Summerville Police say an hours-long standoff that began with a concerned neighbor’s call ended tragically.
Capt. Chris Hirsch confirmed the man took his life at approximately 2:30 p.m.
“It’s not the outcome that we wanted, you know, and we tried everything that we could,” Hirsch said. “We had his parents here trying to coax him out of the house. We had our negotiators on scene, our mental health group was on scene and we just utilized every resource that we could to try to make this end in a peaceful way for everybody.”
Capt. Chris Hirsch said a concerned neighbor called police at approximately 9:15 a.m. Thursday to request a welfare check.
“She obviously knew something wasn’t right with her neighbor,” he said. “I don’t know if they’d been neighbors for a while or not, but she knew something was off. She was concerned and she did the right thing and she called us in.”
Police arrived and attempted to make contact with the man when they were met with gunfire through a window of the townhouse.
Police quickly retreated from the immediate area and called in reinforcements. They locked off a portion of Paradise Point off Bacons Bridge Road and asked the public to avoid the area.
Hirsch said earlier in the morning that they were able to make contact with the man inside and that the situation was contained. He said officers heard a single gunshot at around 2:30 p.m.
Police said they would remain at the scene.
“We’ve got some things that we have to work on. Some tear gas was deployed inside the residence to try to get him out, and so that’s still lingering in the house,” he said. “It may have gotten into some neighboring townhomes. So we’re cautioning neighbors about that as well. The fire department’s assisting us, trying to air out the townhouse.”
Hirsch said from the time police arrived at the scene, the man was inside the home alone. At no point were there any hostages.