Thaindian News

GROTON, CONNECTICUT (BNO NEWS) — A standoff with an armed man at the University of Connecticut’s Avery Point campus in Groton ended Tuesday morning when the man committed suicide, officials said. It followed hours of negotiations in an attempt to end the situation peacefully.

The incident began at about 5 p.m. local time on Monday when police in Groton began looking for an armed and suicidal man. Police found the man’s car at Avery Point at about 10 p.m. local time, prompting authorities to close the campus. Officers later found the man alone on a remote area of the campus.

The University of Connecticut Police Department and the Groton City Police Department located the man at a remote shoreline location on campus, where he was threatening to harm himself with a handgun. Officers set up a perimeter around him and continued negotiations with the suicidal man for hours.

The negotiations came to an abrupt end on early Tuesday morning when the man, who was crawled beneath a dock along the shoreline, threw away his phone and killed himself. His identity was not immediately released, and authorities did not say why the man wanted to kill himself.

Police did not believe the man was a threat to others but evacuated the campus as a precaution while the university sent out alerts through text messages and email. University of Connecticut Police also worked with Project Oceanology, a youth program operated at the campus, to inform parents of the situation. The about 50 children were in a locked building guarded by armed officers during the incident.

The Avery Point campus reopened Tuesday morning and Connecticut State Police have taken over the investigation.