Shots fired, but 12-hour standoff ends peacefully

San Antonio police enter an apartment complex Thursday November 21, 2013 near Evergreen and McCollough where a 53-year-old man is holding an 18-year-old man hostage. Police Chief William McManus said the man has a gun and released a 30-year-old man earlier. "It's a waiting game," McManus said. less San Antonio police enter an apartment complex Thursday November 21, 2013 near Evergreen and McCollough where a 53-year-old man is holding an 18-year-old man hostage. Police Chief William McManus said the man ... more Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Shots fired, but 12-hour standoff ends peacefully 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

A nearly 12-hour standoff in which San Antonio police opened fire on an armed man ended peacefully Thursday with no injuries, authorities said.

The suspect, 53, has not yet been identified by police.

He was taken into custody around 3:30 p.m. — hours after releasing an 18-year-old hostage, police said. Officers said they planned to charge him with aggravated assault of a police officer and aggravated kidnapping.

The suspect had been invited as a guest to stay at an apartment in the 200 block of East Evergreen north of downtown, according to Officer Roger Zuniga, a police spokesman.

The two men who live there, the 18-year-old and a 33-year-old, told police the suspect became aggressive and physically abusive while staying with them. When they asked the man to leave the apartment, he refused and threatened them, they said.

The tenants called police around 4 a.m. Thursday, and when they arrived the man threatened to shoot them with a long gun that he had in his possession, authorities said. At that point, police barricaded the area and called SWAT and hostage negotiators to try to coax him out.

“We're not sure what he's about, whether he's serious or not,” Chief William McManus said at the scene Thursday morning. “We're being very cautious.”

The gunman later asked police and SWAT officers for a telephone, and after an officer left a phone at the door, the officer saw the suspect with a rifle, police said. The officer fired at least four or five shots. It was initially unclear if the suspect was hit, but police later learned he was not injured.

At one point Thursday morning, police took the suspect's mother to the scene after he told negotiators he wanted to speak with her.

On the suspect's record is a murder arrest but no conviction because of lack of evidence, McManus said.

Streets around the apartment complex were closed most of the day, and VIA Transit rerouted buses.

amalik@express-news.net