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Syracuse price SWAT team members leave the scene of a domestic dispute involving a man with a gun on Townsend Street between Erie Boulevard and Burnet Avenue Sunday, March 5, 2017.

( Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com)

Syracuse, N.Y.-- Syracuse police were able to convince a man who held a gun to his head and appeared to want officers to shoot him to surrender after a domestic dispute Sunday morning on Burnet Avenue.

The police received a 911 call at about 6:40 a.m. reporting a domestic dispute involving the suspect and three other people, including a child, Deputy Police Chief Joe Cecile said. The four are family members, he said.

The suspect and the others were having a domestic dispute in a parking lot in the 100 block of Burnet Avenue with a patrol officer arrived on the scene, the deputy chief said.

The officer saw a man with a gun and quickly moved the others to safety, he said.

The man had a gun, put it to his head and did not comply when the officer ordered him to drop the gun, Cecile said.

"The officer used a lot of restraint even though the individual appeared to want the officer to shoot (him)," the deputy chief said.

"This officer used a lot of restraint not to use use force against this individual and he was able to pull everyone out of there," he said.

Police called in the emergency response team, which includes negotiators, to speak with the man to resolve the situation, he said.

Townsend Street, between Erie Boulevard and Burnet Avenue, was blocked off during the incident.

"We had multiple experts here to resolve this without loss of life," the chief said.

At about 9:50 a.m. the man put down his gun and was taken into custody, he said.

No shots were fired.

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