TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Police Department officers arrested a man who they say threatened two women with a gun and held himself up inside an apartment.
Just before 6 a.m. Thursday morning, two women called 911 and said they locked themselves in the back bedroom of a unit at Cortland Bowery on South West Shore Boulevard, according to a department news release.
Officers approached the front door of the unit and heard what they said to be someone racking a gun.
Police on the scene reported hearing the man making threats toward them and the women inside the unit, the department said. It when then that officers retreated back and called in SWAT.
After the negotiator was able to get in contact with the man and talk to him, SWAT was able to safely rescue the two women. They both reportedly climbed through a window and climbed down a ladder.
While the negotiator continued to talk with the man inside, police tried to breach the front door but were unsuccessful. It got to a point when the man's mother arrived at the scene to record a message for him to play over a PA system, police said.
Finally, around 10:30 a.m., several rounds of gas were thrown into the apartment, which allowed officers to make their way into the apartment. They were able to find the man in the bedroom and arrest him.
The man involved in the barricade situation, who has not yet been identified, faces charges of aggravated assault with a firearm and aggravated false imprisonment with a firearm. Additional charges are pending.
The investigation is still ongoing.