BRIGHTON, Mich. – A man was found dead Sunday following a standoff with Brighton police in the parking lot of a Meijer store.
According to the Brighton City Police Department, officers were investigating a U-Haul truck and a travel trailer in a Meijer parking lot at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 21. Officials say the owner registered to the trailer, an adult man, had several warrants for his arrest -- including a serious felony warrant that involved a weapon.
In addition to the arrest warrants, the U-Haul truck had been reported stolen out of another jurisdiction, and the man registered to the trailer was the suspect.
Officers on the scene Sunday attempted to make contact with the people inside the trailer, but did not initially receive an answer. After using a loudspeaker in the police cruiser, a woman came to the door and told police the man had left with the U-Haul truck two hours prior.
The U-Haul truck was still parked next to the trailer at that time. Police continued to try to talk to the man who was believed to be inside.
Additional police officers responded to the scene to ensure the safety of the officers, bystanders, and individuals inside the trailer, officials said. When more officers arrived and established a perimeter, the woman exited the trailer, and contact was made with the man inside.
Officials say they made several attempts to get the man to exit the trailer, but after about 30 minutes, the man’s phone disconnected.
At this point in the standoff, the Livingston Regional SWAT and Negotiator teams responded to the scene. Police continued to try to contact the man inside, but they weren’t able to establish any communication.
A SWAT team approached the trailer at about 7:20 p.m., deployed a Noise, Flash, Distraction Device, broke a window of the trailer, and used a pole camera to see inside.
The man was found inside the trailer. Officials say he died by suicide.
Brighton police say there were no reported injuries to officers on the scene or to any citizens. No children were involved in the standoff, and at no point were any shots fired by police or at police, officials said.
More footage from the scene can be seen in the video below.