Barricaded man in Fort Myers SWAT standoff identified

FORT MYERS, Fla.- A SWAT team has taken 33-year-old Velton Corbett into custody after he barricaded himself inside a home on C Street near Henderson Avenue, the Fort Myers Police Department said.

Shortly before 1 p.m., police responded to a call of a suspicious vehicle in the area with possible shots fired.

When authorities arrived on the scene, police say Corbett fired his weapon and locked himself inside a home. The street was then flooded with heavily armed SWAT teams and armored trucks.

“It is very sad, we’ve had enough incidents happen in the last two or three days,” said Felix Johnson who lives nearby. “Until someone or somebody or everybody gets together and gets this thing under control, it’s going to continue.”

Some homeowners in the neighborhood were evacuated during the standoff.

The police investigation is ongoing. The scene cleared before 11 p.m., which was nearly 10 hours after the initial call.

Fort Myers Police Department Cpt. Jim Mulligan said his team was in no rush, but wanted to get Corbett out peacefully.

“He didn’t want food. He didn’t want water. He wanted reassurance and that’s what he got,” Mulligan said. “Time was on our side. Time was on his side. There was no rush. It was all about being patient, sitting tight, holding. There was no reason to force anybody’s hand, him to ours or ours to his and we sat through it and we prevailed.”

Corbett is facing multiple attempted homicide charges.