Standoff involving SWAT and a deaf man in Grand Prairie ends Monday morning

An hours-long standoff at a Grand Prairie apartment complex ended around 6:30 Monday morning when the male suspect turned himself into police. It was a situation complicated by the fact the suspect is deaf, which initially made it difficult for police to negotiate his surrender.

The standoff began around midnight Monday, when police were called to deal with a fight involving an apparently intoxicated couple along the 900 block of Duncan Perry Road near Interstate 30. KXAS-Channel 5 reports that the woman was outside when police arrived, and she was arrested. But the man barricaded himself inside an apartment unit and threatened to kill himself if police didn’t release her from custody.

Police saw the man holding a gun and evacuated several apartment buildings, with residents sheltered in Red Cross warming trucks while police figured out how to communicate with the man.

Eventually, police say, they commenced negotiations via “a Skype-type device,” says Det. Lyle Gensler, a spokesman for the Grand Prairie Police Department.

Says Gensler, the suspect and police communicated using by using what’s known as Video Relay Interpreting, with a sign-language translator relaying messages between suspect and officers.

“He sat in front of his monitor, he would sign something, someone saw it, and that person would type what he was saying and send it to us,” says Gensler. “And the interpreter would do the same thing for us. In the end it was no different than if the guy was hearing and had a phone in the house. He would choose to call, he would choose to answer, he would choose when and how to respond. It was on for the books, though — I’ve never seen it used before in my 20-year career.”

Six and a half hours after the standoff began the man finally surrendered to police, who transported him to Parkland Memorial Hospital for a mental evaluation.

And that gun, says Gensler, was an Airsoft pistol.

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Bebonang said:

What the heck is Airsoft pistol? Is it like BB gun for kids?

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Jiro said:

Airsoft pistol is a very realistic looking toy gun. it's like a high-powered version of BB gun.

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hoichi said:

well at least they didn't show up at the wrong place, kill the dogs, taser the girl and shoot the wrong guy.
they are improving

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