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90-minute standoff ends without injury

 
Published Jan. 2, 1999|Updated Sept. 28, 2005

(ran PW PS editions)

The Sheriff's Office used the Baker Act to take into custody Friday night a 48-year-old man who had threatened to kill himself, ending a 1{- hour standoff in the Plantation subdivision.

About 5 p.m. Friday, nine sheriff's patrol cars pulled up to the home of Gilbert Gonzalez at 3122 Tori Court.

Gonzalez's wife had called the Sheriff's Office, fearing that he would take his life, sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said.

When deputies arrived, Gonzalez was alone in the house, carrying a gasoline canister and threatening to burn himself and the house. His wife and two teenage children were outside the home, Doll said.

Later, Gonzalez threatened to kill himself with a knife and a .32-caliber handgun. At one point during the standoff, the Sheriff's Office closed a nearby road.

The incident ended peacefully without injuries after deputies persuaded Gonzalez not to take his life.

Gonzalez was taken to the Harbor for psychiatric evaluation under the Baker Act, which empowers officers to take to hospitals for mental evaluation people who appear likely to harm themselves or others due to mental illness.

Doll said he did not know what caused Gonzalez's behavior. Family members declined comment.

Doll said it was not unusual for the Sheriff's Office to send so many units in such an incident. "Any time somebody threatens to kill himself, we take that seriously as a possible harm to themselves or others," Doll said.

At no point did Gonzalez threaten his family, he said.

No charges were filed, pending a psychiatric evaluation.