Early Morning Bellevue Standoff Ends Peacefully

A six-hour standoff at The Firs Apartments, 14635 SE 16th St, ended peacefully around 6 a.m. when an armed man barricaded in his apartment surrendered to , according to the Bellevue Police Department.

No one was injured and no shots were fired during the incident, which started Tuesday night around 10 p.m., when the man, described as in his 40s, pointed a gun at people who were parked in his parking space, said Bellevue Police Department spokeswoman Officer Carla Iafrate.

The people called police about an hour later, and the standoff started when the man refused to come out of his apartment and talk to police officers, Iafrate said.

At one point during the six hour incident, he hid under a table in the home and was afraid of the officers outside, she said. The apartment complex was under lockdown -- which meant no one could come in or leave -- during the standoff, she said, though no apartments were evacuated and no streets were closed.

Negotiators from the hostage negotiating team were brought to the apartment complex to talk to the man, who eventually was convinced to turn himself in to police officers, Iafrate said.

The man was booked into King County Jail on suspicion of second-degree assault, Iafrate said. Pointing a weapon at someone and threatened that person is considered assault, she said.

The hostage negotiating team was credited with helping to end the standoff peacefully, Iafrate said. They go through extensive training to handle stressful situations, including working on suicide prevention at the Crisis Clinic and with people with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder through the Veterans Administration, she said.

Earlier this year, , which began when he went to a employee's home and pointed a gun at him.