Man in custody, woman being evaluated after Fremont apartment complex standoff

FREMONT, Calif. - A man is custody and a woman is being evaluated after an hours-long standoff at a Fremont apartment complex. The situation ended peacefully.

This followed an active police scene at the Briarwood Apartments, a complex in Fremont's Irvington District, Thursday afternoon. Police initially treated the incident as a home invasion. Authorities do not know if either the man or woman lived in the apartment unit located in the 4200 block of Bay Street. 

Police officers and specialized police units responded to the apartments where the man barricaded in the apartment for nearly four hours. 

Bay Street closed to vehicular traffic between Grimmer Boulevard and Chapel Way. 

At around 5:40 p.m. the man emerged to surrender from the apartment complex with his hands up, followed by a woman who came out of the unit seconds later. Just before 6 p.m. the man was taken into custody. The relationship of the man and woman is unknown. 

Officers were first called to the area around 2:20 p.m. Sgt. Kim MacDonald said a neighbor called 9-11, to report a possible armed home invasion. "The suspect was seen with a handgun," said MacDonald.

MacDonald said police used a robot to try and make contact with the man. "But they came out on their own. They were unarmed and no injuries to them or the police or community members."

Police evacuated nearby residents. A SWAT unit was brought in, with armored vehicles. They used robots, K9s, and drones to try and make contact with the suspect. Crisis negotiators used a bullhorn to order the suspect out of the apartment.

Neighbors watched this all unfold from the complex across the street.

"I’m terrified. I’m a 57-years resident and I’ll be leaving here soon," said one neighbor who goes by the name "Mimi." "It makes me nauseous. It makes my stomach hurt if that makes sense at all," she said.

The woman did not appear injured. Police cleared the apartment and did not find anyone else inside.