After a five-hour standoff with U.S. Marshals and Wilmington police on Wednesday, a man who had barricaded himself inside of a home off Third Street has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
U.S. Marshals attempted to serve a federal warrant for failure to appear at a home in the 400 block of South Third Street at about 4 p.m., when they found an armed man who had barricaded himself inside the home, according to Wilmington Police Department Spokeswoman Linda Rawley.
Police had responded to a check welfare call at the home earlier Wednesday morning but found no one at the home, Rawley said.
Wilmington police blocked off traffic on Third Street between Castle and Market streets for several hours, as multiple agencies worked to negotiate with the 45-year-old man inside the home. Residents in the surrounding area were evacuated from their homes as a precaution, Rawley said.
“We are trying to end this as peacefully as possible,” Rawley said in a news briefing on the scene Wednesday afternoon.
But after five hours of negotiations, the standoff ended shortly before 9 p.m. when the man died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The man’s identity will not be released until his next of kin are notified, Rawley said.
Traffic flowed normally on Third Street at about 9:20 p.m. and residents were allowed to return to their homes.
EMS crews, New Hanover County Sheriff’s deputies, along with the Wilmington Police Department’s Bomb Squad and SWAT team remained on the scene.
Check back for more details on this developing story.
