San Antonio – An hours-long standoff on the East Side began early Monday morning after an armed man got into three disputes outside his apartment.
The first incident began when police responded to a call from landscaping employees who said a man threatened them with a knife in the 4600 block of Dietrich Road.
When officers arrived, they searched the area, including an apartment the man may have lived in. After trying to communicate with him for half an hour, police disengaged, left, and put out an arrest warrant for an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge.
Hours later, SAPD again responded to the same complex after they were told that the same individual approached a woman while she was talking on the phone.
The man allegedly spat on her, grabbed her hair, and then chased her with a knife, police said.
The woman’s brother tried to intervene in the altercation to rescue his sister, but police said he was injured on his arm by the man.
SAPD said that bystanders “came to the rescue” and threw rocks at the man in an attempt to get him to stop chasing the woman.
The man responded by firing a gun in the air, prompting the residents to run away, police said. He then ran inside an apartment unit and refused to come out, police said.
For several hours, SWAT and other officers tried to communicate with the man to coax him out and surrender.
Police played a recording of a family member’s voice over a speaker: “Come out peacefully. We love you,” the family member said.
Eventually, SWAT entered the apartment unit and managed to arrest the man, according to police.
The man, who is in his late 20s, faces three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, police said.
Police have not said who the man is or if he has a criminal history. Neighbors told KSAT that the man may have a history of mental health issues.
We have a news crew on-scene and will update the story once we learn more information.
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