Suspect dies after standoff with Fort Myers police

Fort Myers Police Chief Derrick Diggs said the suspect who was barricaded inside a home for hours on Thursday is dead.

The Fort Myers Police Department, along with a SWAT team and a bomb squad, had been at the home near Dora Street and Grand Avenue since 2 a.m. after receiving a call about gunfire.

Diggs said at a press briefing Thursday afternoon that the man fired at officers when they arrived at 2 a.m. before he went into the house. More shots were fired periodically throughout the morning hours.

Two people were inside the home and did not know the suspect, Diggs said.

Those two people were safely removed from the house by police just before 10 a.m.

The SWAT team arrived and asked the man over a loudspeaker dozens of times to come out before eventually making entry at about 3 p.m. The suspect was found inside with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was taken to Lee Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Details on the suspect and his identity have yet to released.

Police evacuated the surrounding homes because of the gunfire.

Robert Shaw watched the situation unfold from his bedroom window. He said the neighborhood is no stranger to crime, but it’s rare to see the SWAT team come out.

“They’ve basically been waking us up all night with the PA system telling the guy to get out of his house,” Shaw said. “I didn’t know what it was at the time, but now I know because there’s a SWAT truck right out front.”