MINDEN, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – The man who barricaded himself inside a Minden house for more than five hours Thursday afternoon in an armed standoff with police has been taken into custody.
It all started just after 1 p.m. at a home on Gladney Street, across the street from Brookshire’s. The man had reportedly told a mental health professional that he wanted to kill himself and others. When officers went to check on him, he displayed a gun. When officers tried to get the man to come out without the weapon, he reportedly refused and barricaded himself inside.
Louisiana State Police SWAT was called to the scene, joining Minden police and Webster Parish deputies.
Minden Police Chief Steve Cropper says a non-lethal “sponge grenade” was used just before 6 p.m. to subdue the man, who was armed with a knife and gun.
No one was injured.
“Mental health is becoming a crisis in this country. Minden is not immune to this. If you or somebody you know needs mental health help please use the state and local resources available,” the Minden Police Association said in a post as the standoff entered its fourth hour.
The standoff comes less than two weeks after a Doyline police officer and reserve Webster Parish deputy was mortally wounded in a shootout with a distraught man holed up in a house on Green Tree Street.