Crisis Negotiation Team helps resolve barricaded gunman situation in Superior Township

SUPERIOR TOWNSHIP, Mich. (FOX 2) - Mental health professionals worked with law enforcement to help peacefully resolve a barricaded gunman situation that stretched on for nearly 36 hours in Superior Township.

Authorities were called to a home on Meadow Drive at about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday after a 32-year-old man allegedly assaulted his parents. His parents told authorities he was armed with multiple weapons, was wearing a flak jacket, and had multiple magazines strapped to his body. 

Washtenaw County sheriff’s deputies and members of the county’s Crisis Negotiation Team were at the home trying to get the man to come out. 

RELATED: Ann Arbor considers sending unarmed mental health experts to certain 911 calls

"They were a Godsend, helping us understand the psychology where he is at this point, what might trigger him, de-escalation on his part," said Sheriff Jerry Clayton.

The man refused to talk to authorities, but at one point he was communicating with them on social media. 

Clayton said other people were commenting back to the man, which complicated things.

"Depending on what they're saying, is that helping us? Encouraging him to give up? We weren't getting a lot of that," he said.

The man eventually put down his weapons and came outside Thursday afternoon.

"We were willing to stay in place and give him the time he needed to come to the realization that the only logical solution was to give himself up," Clayton said. "Everybody's safe, mom and dad didn't lose a child. Exactly the kind of conclusion we want."

The Washtenaw County Crisis Negotiation Team was started in late 2019. The team responds to situations where mental health may be a concern to help communicate with people in need.