UPDATE: According to Larry Christian with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, the suspect in a standoff in North Tyler has been taken into custody.

“They decided it was time to go ahead and get him out because of the fact he was armed with a handgun,” said Christian. “The main concern at this point — we had him contained, he wasn’t going anywhere — but the main concern was that he was going to harm himself.”

The sheriff’s office said a flash-bang grenade was used to disorient the suspect at which time law enforcement was able to get him into custody.

“The vehicle was breached, they broke the back glass,” said Christian. “They threw what is referred to as a flash-bang into the vehicle and when it exploded they were able to break the glass on the driver’s door and quickly extract him from the vehicle, before he was able to do anything with the handgun.”

The suspect was taken to UT Health East Texas with minor injuries.

“It was a successful conclusion to a very precarious situation throughout the day,” said Christian. “We can’t be happier with how it ended. We were able to prevent someone from harming themselves and no one else got hurt.”

The identity of the suspect is not being released at this time.

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Law enforcement officers are currently in a standoff with a suspect in Tyler.

According to the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, this is taking place near the intersection of US 69 north and West Northwest Loop 323 in the parking lot of a motel. Tyler police were requested to assist at 2:28 p.m.

According to Smith County Sheriff’s Office PIO Deputy Larry Christian, law enforcement knew the suspect was in the area. When they spotted him, they made a traffic stop. The man pulled into the parking lot of Econo Lodge.

“The driver locked the doors and refused to cooperate with demands to come out,” said Christian. “The reason the situation took as long as it did was because the man was armed, we observed at least one handgun in the vehicle with him and possibly two.”

Officials say he is in possession of a gun or guns. The man said he “was not going back to jail,” one deputy told us.

https://www.kltv.com/2019/12/03/law-enforcement-standoff-with-man-pickup-truck-north-tyler/