Cape police capture armed man barricaded under dock

CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A Cape Coral man was taken into custody after he barricaded himself under a boat dock amid an apparent suicide attempt Friday night, police said.

Police said he was armed and advised people near the 2900 block of Southwest 40th Street to stay inside while they negotiated with the man for nearly two hours. A SWAT team and Lee County Sheriff’s Office aviation worked the scene before the man was ultimately apprehended.

Officers observed him holding a gun to his head and later a knife to his neck, according to the Cape Coral Police Deparment. They used a flash-bang to distract him, and fired sponge rounds and used a taser to subdue him, the police department said.

An 80-year-old woman in the residence where police first encountered the man emerged OK, police said.

The man, whose identity remains unknown, was taken to the Cape Coral Emergency Room and later the Park Royal Hospital under a psychiatric hold.