Police standoff shuts down part of downtown Mobile, Alabama

Multiple police officers with weapons drawn surrounded a vehicle parked outside a government building in Mobile, Alabama, in a standoff that lasted for hours

MOBILE, Ala. — Multiple police officers with weapons drawn surrounded a vehicle parked outside a government building in downtown Mobile, Alabama, in a standoff that lasted for hours Monday.

Katrina Frazier, a police spokeswoman, told reporters that a man with an apparent gunshot wound was spotted in a parked car outside Government Plaza, which contains multiple Mobile County offices and courts. She said the man pointed a gun at his head when officers approached to see if he needed help, al.com reported.

“Officers backed away from the scene and we called in the SWAT teams and a negotiator,” said Frazier. It wasn’t clear whether the man shot himself or was shot by someone else.

Photos and video from the scene showed dozens of officers pointing handguns and rifles toward a car parked along a curb. Mental health professionals were on the scene talking to the person, and no hostages were involved, James Barber, an aide in the mayor’s office, told WALA-TV.

A main road through the city was blocked, as was a tunnel that passes under the Mobile River leading out of the city.