Police: Neighbor who triggered standoff handcuffed man to banister (+video)

Police offered more details about a standoff that gridlocked a southeast Wichita neighborhood for several hours Monday afternoon and evening.

They also offered praise to residents in the area for how they responded to the incident that began at about 4 p.m. when a 58-year-old man called 911 to report that a neighbor had threatened him with a gun and appeared to be holding someone hostage in the 4600 block of East Boston, Wichita police Lt. James Espinoza said. That’s near Harry and Oliver.

The caller said he was invited by the 24-year-old man who lives next door to stop by, Espinoza said, and when he did he saw a 19-year-old man handcuffed to a banister. The 24-year-old man had a handgun and threatened him with it, the caller told authorities.

As he was leaving, he heard a gunshot.

Officers called the suspect but got no response, Officer Pol Cruz said, so the SWAT team was called out and residents who live nearby were evacuated as a precaution.

Streets in the neighborhood were also closed as a precaution and remained closed until the standoff was resolved. Espinoza expressed appreciation for the patience and understanding displayed by residents.

“There were street closures that inconvenienced some people,” he said.

The 24-year-old suspect released the 19-year-old man after four hours and then surrendered peacefully an hour later, at about 9 p.m. He was booked into the Sedgwick County Jail on suspicion of aggravated battery, two counts of aggravated assault and one count of kidnapping.

The man who was handcuffed to the first-floor banister was not injured, Espinoza said.

“We don’t want things like this to happen,” he said.

But when they do, he said, “time is on our side” in efforts to have standoffs resolved peacefully.

This story was originally published September 8, 2015 at 1:38 PM with the headline "Police: Neighbor who triggered standoff handcuffed man to banister (+video)."