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SAN DIEGO — A SWAT standoff that began Friday morning lasted for nearly seven hours before police removed eight people from an apartment building in City Heights, six of who police said were possible robbery suspects.

Officers arrived at second floor of a residential complex in the 3600 block of University Avenue to arrest the suspects about 11 a.m., according to San Diego police. The personnel detained several people, but at least one suspect was believed to be still inside and refusing to respond to officers’ orders until Friday evening, Sgt. Michael Stirk said.

A SWAT team was called in to take up positions around the building as negotiators tried to contact and reason with the remaining suspect or suspects.

As authorities worked to negotiate with the outstanding suspects, police advised the public to avoid University Avenue between 36th and 38th streets and Cherokee Avenue from Polk Avenue to Wightman Street.

All suspects were peacefully accounted for and taken into custody around 5:15 p.m., after which police began reopening the streets affected by the standoff.

Suspects were peacefully taken into custody and we are currently working on moving our vehicles out of the street to open up traffic. We would like to thank everyone for their patience. — San Diego Police Department (@SanDiegoPD) September 21, 2019

Police believe the suspects are responsible for nearly 20 robberies across San Diego County, including Thursday’s armed robbery near San Diego State University.

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