DETROIT – A gunman who refused to leave a restaurant Tuesday evening at Gratiot Avenue and McDougall Street on Detroit's east side was taken into custody after about an hour of uncertainty.
The armed man entered the Gratiot Grill Tuesday evening, demanded a coffee and hung out in the lobby with the gun.
Carmen Hatchett works at the Gratiot Grill.
"He said, 'I want some (expletive) free,'" Hatchett said. "I said, 'What do you want for free?' He said, 'Coffee.' So I gave him a cup of coffee. He said, 'I don't want that (expletive), I want fresh coffee.' So I made him a thing of fresh cup."
Hatchet found her self trapped behind plexiglas glass, along with six other people who were held hostage, including a mother and her 2-year-old girl.
Snipers, special operations, state troopers and armored trucks arrived to the scene and shut down Gratiot Avenue.
"We arrived very quickly, established a perimeter (and) started to communicate with suspect," an officer said.
Shortly after negotiations began the armed man's sister showed up, telling officials that her brother is mentally ill.
"We were able to use her at the very end so he could hear a familiar voice," the officer said.
Minutes later the hostages were freed, the man gave up and police took his gun only to find out it was a toy.
Police escorted the other people out of the building about 7:45 p.m. and arrested the gunman.