Updated: June 4, 2017 at 5:20 p.m.
A 36-year-old man was taken into police custody early Friday morning after a more than eight-hour-long standoff in a 21st Street building.
Police responded to a call to check on the welfare of an individual around 5:15 p.m. Thursday evening, according to a Metropolitan Police Department report.
Officers attempted to contact the man in the 500 block of 21st Street and he became uncooperative. Officers declared a “barricade situation” at 6:50 p.m., according to the report.
The standoff ended “without incident” at 3:26 a.m. when the man was taken into police custody. He was then transported to GW Hospital for a mental evaluation, the report states.
The man was not arrested and MPD classified the situation as a “sick case” because the man was believed to be mentally disturbed, MPD spokeswoman Karimah Bilal said.
A stretch of 21st Street between E and F streets was closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic for hours Thursday evening while the incident unfolded.
A University alert, sent at about 7:50 p.m., advised students to avoid the area.
The alert was sent by a phone call, text message and email thanks to an upgraded notification system that was put in place in October, University Police Department Chief RaShall Brackney said. University alerts have traditionally been sent by email and text message.
The alert was sent more than two hours after police arrived and about an hour after the barricade was declared. Brackney said the timing of the alert was based on when MPD provided University officials with information about the incident.
“GW determined an alert was needed because it was a potential disruption to the nearby campus,” she said in an email. “It’s important to note that MPD was addressing a situation that was not located in a GW building.”
The stretch of 21st Street reopened to pedestrian traffic later in the evening, but vehicle traffic was still blocked and MPD officers remained in the area, according to a second GW alert sent about 11 p.m.
A third University alert, sent out at 3:47 a.m. Friday morning, reported that MPD was clearing the scene and vehicle traffic would “resume shortly.”
At least 12 police vehicles and an ambulance were at the scene Thursday evening. Officers were seen entering and exiting the Monroe House condominium complex at 522 21st St. NW.
