Tomball Texas: Man Surrenders After Police Standoff From His Son’s Hospital Room

After hours of negotiations during a standoff with the police, a man eventually surrendered at Tomball Regional Medical Center. CBS News reports that around 7 p.m. on Saturday, a man barricaded himself along with a family member inside his son’s hospital room in the critical care unit. The man was distraught regarding the medical condition of his son and began making threats.

Lt. Joe Ambriz with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office reported the following to ABC 13.

“There was a disturbance and the man was very upset (about his son) and required the sheriff’s office getting contacted as well as our high risk operations unit.”

It was a situation in which the hospital officials and the Tomball police were unable to control.

Early on, authorities believed the man was armed and dangerous after a spokesperson for the Tomball Police Department told KHOU-TV that the man had entered the hospital with a gun and was holding at least two people hostage inside his son’s hospital room.

It was at that point KHOU-TV revealed the following.

“SWAT team members were on scene with machine guns, who swarmed the building.”

The Tomball Regional Medical Center, which sits on a 150-acre campus, went on immediate lock-down, shutting down its ER and informing patients they could not leave their rooms. This concerned the family and friends of the patients. Lt. Ambriz said it was a frightening ordeal for patients and staff.

“I don’t have all the details as far as how he was threatening others but it was a situation that required the high risk operations unit to be contacted to get the situation under control. He did remain in the patient’s room and would not exit the patient’s room which in and of itself is concerning.”

Ryan Smith told KHOU-TV the following.

“My aunt is in the room with my grandmother and they said they can’t leave the room.”

Jim Goerss’s wife is a nurse on staff at Tomball Regional Medical Center and revealed that she was hiding in a closet, waiting for the word that everything was clear.

Lt. Ambriz stated the following.

“The focus was to make sure everyone on that floor was safe and moved out of potential harm’s way and we take the subject into custody.”

Four hours passed until the man surrendered without injury. Once the man left his son’s room and was taken by the police, they soon discovered that he was not armed, and he had not taken any hostages.

The man was taken into police custody, although Ambriz says he is uncertain what charges the man will face.

[Photo Credit: ABC13.com]