Kansas City hotel evacuated amid standoff with ‘armed suspect’: police
Update: Police said the man was taken into custody around 9:30 p.m. without incident.
Police are having guests evacuate a Kansas City hotel as they attempt to resolve a standoff involving a person armed with a gun who is barricaded inside a room, a department spokeswoman said Thursday evening.
The hotel, a Best Western near the intersection of 43rd and Main streets, is within an area that has been shut down by police amid the standoff. Police are cautioning people to avoid the area.
Officers were first called to the hotel around 4 p.m. Thursday, Officer Donna Drake, a police spokeswoman, said in a statement. They arrived on a reported disturbance involving a guest who was not allowed to leave a hotel room by the armed suspect, Drake said.
The victim was eventually able to leave the hotel room safely and met with arriving officers, Drake said. But police have since been unable to convince the reportedly armed suspect to leave the hotel room.
Additional tactical resources and negotiators were being sent to the scene as of Thursday night, Drake said. Police have thus far gotten “several occupants of rooms” to leave the hotel as a safety precaution.
Police negotiators are currently attempting to speak with the suspect “in hopes of bringing the situation to a peaceful resolution,” Drake said.
