Boca police alerted Port St. Lucie before armed man killed himself in van, PSL cops say
Investigators believe an armed man who had barricaded himself in a van fatally shot himself Wednesday at a busy shopping area in Port St. Lucie. Police were alerted to the man after Boca Raton Police called Port St. Lucie law enforcement regarding a missing endangered person who was possibly armed in the area, Port St. Lucie Acting Police Chief Richard Del Toro said.
The man, who has not been identified, died after police worked to negotiate with him, according to Port St. Lucie Police.
The incident at The Landing at Tradition, a large retail shopping area just west of Interstate 95 and north of Tradition Parkway, began around 1:15 p.m. after St. Lucie officials got the call from Boca Raton Police.
Del Toro said the man was tracked via phone to the area around Tradition. Police were given a description of a U-Haul type van, and Del Toro said investigators found it in the parking lot.
“The officers did confirm that the ... missing person was armed at that time,” Del Toro said. He said police used “stop sticks” to puncture the vehicle’s tires.
Officials spent a couple of hours negotiating with the man trying to get him to come out of the van. Del Toro said police “introduced chemical agents into the vehicle” and could hear him coughing.
A police armored vehicle was pulled up close to the van providing cover for SWAT officials. A loud bang was heard and then a cloud of smoke seen about 3:40 p.m. by the van.
Police broke one of the windows and noticed the man wasn’t moving any longer, and was dead. Del Toro said investigators believe he used a firearm in the vehicle to die by suicide.
The man had been communicating with negotiators but was refusing to exit the vehicle.
“This is a very, very heavily populated area with customers,” Del Toro said. “So this is definitely a threat to public safety, not something that we can just walk away from and hope to catch him another day.”
Large portions of the parking lot were blocked off by yellow tape as a number of onlookers watched.
Angeline Gullo, 59, was at the scene. She said she went into a nearby AT&T store and when she came out, noted people gathering.
“When I inquired, they said there was a troubled man barricaded in a van and to check Facebook,” Gullo said.
She said she eventually retreated to her vehicle.
“I figured I could put shopping on hold if some man’s got his life in the balance who am I to get nosey?” Gullo said. “It’s got to be scary for the police, too.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Death of 'armed barricaded subject' suspected by suicide, police said
