FERNDALE, Mich. – A suspected gunman is dead after a standoff with police Tuesday night in Ferndale.
- The standoff lasted for hours Tuesday night after shots were fired.
- Residents at Withington West evacuated the building.
- Five hours after it started, the suspected gunman was found dead by officers inside the apartment. It is believed he took his own life.
Police officers entered the apartment on Withington Street early Wednesday morning to find the man dead.
Tenants were evacuated from the senior complex after the resident opened fire at the Withington West Elderly Apartments. Police said the suspect fired off several rounds with a handgun.
"The first one I heard, then two to three shot, pop, pop, pop," said Jeff Burch, who was forced to evacuate his apartment.
Burch lives right next door to the man. He could hear the bullets hitting walls. It was about five shots.
"Like an idiot, I went out there to look, and by that time he had already went back into his apartment," said Burch.
Residents of the apartment complex eventually were allowed back into their homes.
Police believe the suspect, a man in his seventies, was under the influence of a narcotic.
Burch called the man a nice guy, but said he thinks he "lost it."
"He's a nice guy, you know, he never bothered anybody," said Burch.
Ferndale police, who were aided by Oakland County SWAT, were hoping for a peaceful end to the standoff, but they found the man dead inside the apartment about 5 hours after this all started.
He had taken his own life.