Barricade Situation Resolved

(Monday) August 30, 2010

By Carla Branch and James Cullum
alexandrianews.org

Alexandria Deputy Chief of Police Blaine Corle updates Mayor Bill Euille outside of a condominium complex on Luna Park Drive. Police said that a condo resident threatened to commit suicide and locked out his roommate, who called police at around 3:30 a.m. (Photo: James Cullum)

A man who locked himself in his Lynhaven apartment and did not respond to police attempts to contact him for hours, was found alive but unresponsive when police forcibly entered the home. He was transported by ambulance to INOVA Alexandria Hospital and his condition is unknown.

The incident began with a 911 call at 3:30 a.m. today. The caller said that his roommate was distraught over personal issues and was expressing suicidal thoughts. The distraught man left the apartment in his vehicle and the roommate followed in his own car to ensure that his friend did not come to any harm.

At some point, the roommate lost sight of his friend’s car. When the roommate returned home to their apartment in the 100 block of Luna Park Drive, he found his friend’s car and was unable to gain entrance to the apartment or to reach his friend by phone.

Alexandria police arrived on the scene at around 7:45 a.m. and evacuated the nearby apartments. One resident was temporarily displaced in the morning, before the Special Operations Team arrived, and several surrounding apartments were secured and evacuated before police entered the apartment.

Police called the apartment and knocked on the door for several. The man inside did not respond.

At around 2:15 this afternoon, the Special Operations Team entered the apartment. Paramedics determined that the man had a pulse but he was completely unresponsive. He was transported to the hospital and is receiving treatment.