ADRIAN — A standoff Wednesday with a barricaded gunman in an Adrian neighborhood ended tragically as authorities reported finding the gunman dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Randy James Stidham, 59, of Adrian was found dead shortly before 7:40 p.m. after remotely operated vehicles with the Michigan State Police Bomb Squad were sent through his house at 624 Ormsby St.

At press time, Adrian Deputy Police Chief Lawrence Van Alstine said that investigators do not know what caused Stidham to barricade himself in his house and eventually take his life but were working on interviewing his friends and family as the investigation continues.

“He wasn’t interested in apparently communicating with us. Our goal was to have a peaceful resolution, and this is not that,” Van Alstine said. “Other than him, no one is hurt, but he’s still somebody’s family and it’s important that we don’t forget that.”

Police first arrived at the scene at 5 a.m. following reports of gunshots. Van Alstine said that two officers were shot at but neither were hit.

Authorities blocked off a perimeter around the house, evacuating some residents and later asking residents to shelter in place and lock all doors and windows.

Gunshots could still be heard coming from the house in the late afternoon but efforts by police to speak to Stidham were unsuccessful.

“There was a long period of time (with) no communications, and we were taking things very slowly, very methodically, to make sure nobody got hurt,” Van Alstine said. “Unfortunately, that did not work out but we were on the scene for quite a while where there was continuous gunshots. And at some point that stopped.”

Van Alstine said that police did not know when Stidham took his own life but kept attempting to contact him throughout the day using police loudspeakers, asking Stidham to drop his gun and come out with his hands up and that he would not get hurt.

Two bomb squad robots were deployed to the house, breaking out windows in an effort to determine what part of the house Stidham was in and whether there were any hazards set up that could harm authorities.

Despite being unable to establish contact, Michigan State Police emergency services troopers shot CS gas grenades into the house shortly after 5 p.m. and later deployed an aerosolized version of the gas that was much more potent through the house.

Hours later, after no communication, the robots discovered that Stidham was dead.

“This is the day you plan for that you hope doesn’t happen. Unfortunately, it’s happening more and more. This is, I think, is our second emergency support activation in a week,” Van Alstine said. “So it’s not terrific that it’s happening but I think it was handled well on all accounts. But unfortunately the outcome was not what we had hoped.”

Merle Eichler, who lived across the street from Stidham for over 10 years, said that Stidham was a good neighbor and they would talk when they would see each other outside.

“There was never a time that he ever refused either my wife or myself if we needed to borrow a tool, we could, as long as I returned it,” Eichler said.

The last time he saw Stidham was exactly a week ago when Eichler returned a drill he borrowed from Stidham and they chatted.

Eichler said Stidham, a veteran, complained for awhile that the Veterans Affairs hospital he was going to said that they were going to remove him from his medications.

“They said he was faking about needing his pain medicine,” Eichler said. “And I told him, ‘How do you really know if you didn’t really talk to the gentleman about what had happened to him in the service and everything?’ … But they took his medicine away from him cold turkey, and I really think that’s when he went off the deep end … .

“They said he was abusing it, but I’ve never seen the man abuse anything. They should have put him in the hospital and checked him out just a little bit more before they made him quit cold turkey.”

Adrian police and Michigan State Police were assisted at the scene by the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office, Adrian Fire Department and Lenawee Community Ambulance among other organizations.