Man Arrested After 'Waving Gun Around,' Standoff With Police Outside Taylor City Hall

TAYLOR (WWJ) - A man is in custody after an armed standoff with police right outside city hall in Taylor Friday.

It happened at Cameron Priebe Plaza — which is situated between Taylor City Hall and the Police Department on Goddard Road.

According to Taylor Mayor Rick Sollars, who watched the scene unfold from a second-floor window, the armed man had been holding and waving his gun around in the plaza.

Police surrounded the man and a standoff followed, which lasted about 20 minutes.

The municipal building and police department were locked down and the surrounding streets were closed off as police negotiated with the suspect.

The man gave up this gun and surrendered after about 20 minutes. There appeared to have been no injuries or shots fired; and, Sollars said, the man didn't point the gun at anyone in particular.

WWJ's Zahra Huber asked the mayor about reports that the man was attempting "suicide by cop."

"From the outside that's what it appeared to be. It appeared to be that his motive may have been something to that extent — but it's speculation at best," Sollars said. "In these situations a lot of times people want to end their life and they don't want to do it on their own, and they put themselves in these types of situations."

"Again, it looked like that," he added. "I can't say for sure what his motivation was."

Taylor City Hall will remain closed Friday.

"Our police officers did an excellent job apprehending the man without incident," he said. "We have sent all of our municipal building employees home for the day and normal operations will resume on Monday."

The suspect's name has not been released.

The surrounding streets have since reopened.