Standoff ends in North Fort Myers community

Published: Updated:

LEE COUNTY, Fla.- A standoff in North Fort Myers that lasted nearly nine hours off US 41 has ended.

A Lee County spokesperson says a person barricaded themselves in a house in the Heron’s Glen Community around 4:30 Sunday afternoon. Deputies have now identified that man as 45-year-old Matthew James Taylor.

They say Sunday afternoon, they got a call from Taylor’s wife, saying he was threatening to kill himself. She told deputies her husband had been drinking during the day. She also said they got in an argument about money she spent during Christmas. She said when she tried to leave the house, he demanded money and her credit cards. She told deputies he grabbed her arm, bruising it and ripping her shirt.

Taylor’s wife said she went to a relative’s house and he started texting her, threatening to kill himself and anyone who intervened. She also said he had loaded guns in the home.

Residents from the community waited for hours as Lee County Sheriff’s Deputies blocked the entrance. WINK News crews on scene observed a very large deputy presence, including the mobile command unit. Some residents were allowed back in through a side entrance but the main gate remained taped off well into the night.

Neighbors in the area tell us they are shocked something like this could happen in their gated community.

Just before 2 a.m., the crime scene tape came down and ambulances left the area.

Residents are now allowed to enter back into their neighborhood and into their homes.

Deputies have not yet confirmed how the standoff ended, the circumstances around the situation, or the condition of the suspect.

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