Suicidal Man Surrenders After Standoff At Wife's Pittsburg Home

PITTSBURG (BCN) -- A suicidal man who barricaded himself inside his estranged wife's house for eight hours Monday surrendered peacefully around noon, Pittsburg police Lt. Brian Addington said.

Police were called to a home in the 900 block of Rosewood Court around 4 a.m. after a woman reported that her 41-year-old estranged husband was inside the house with a gun.

The woman had escaped from the home and was not hurt.

The man was reportedly despondent over family and financial matters and had told a friend that he was going to get police officers to shoot him, Addington said.

The man has a history of mental problems and police believe alcohol may have been involved, Addington said.

Police evacuated neighboring homes and blocked off Rosewood Court until crisis negotiators were eventually able to convince the man to surrender.

Once he came out, he was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation.

While he was inside the home, however, he caused significant damage with a chain saw and a sledgehammer, but because he still owns the home with his estranged wife, he was not arrested for damaging the property, Addington said.

Addington said the man had moved out of the home about two months ago.

Investigators found the man's weapon inside the home, which turned out to be a pellet gun.

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