A mobile home park resident took the leasing manager hostage, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

MANATEE COUNTY — The man who was shot and killed by a Manatee County Sheriff's Office SWAT team Thursday afternoon after taking a hostage told negotiators he was unhappy about rumors he could be evicted from the Pescara Lake Mobile Home Park, the Sheriff's Office said.

Negotiators tried for six hours to convince resident Glenn Watenpool, 68, to surrender and release hostage Mike Albaugh, 54. But he would not comply with their instructions, said Sheriff Rick Wells during a news conference after the standoff concluded. Watenpool was armed with a handgun and a shotgun and said he wanted to kill himself, Wells said.

At 2:03 p.m., the bomb squad set off an explosion near the Pescara Lake leasing office at 570 57th Ave. W. as a diversion, and the SWAT team entered the clubhouse area where Watenpool was holding Albaugh, the property leasing manager, captive.

"As soon as they entered the building the suspect began to fire several shots at them," Wells said. "We returned fire striking and killing the suspect at this location."

The incident began around 7:45 a.m., according to the Sheriff's Office, which said a Pescara Lake resident called 911 to report seeing a man enter the leasing office with a gun. Deputies who arrived confirmed that there were two men inside the office, and one was being held hostage.

A maintenance man said he walked in on the confrontation between Watenpool and Albaugh moments after it began and the manager told him to get out.

"Mike saved my life," said the man named Frank, who did not want to give his last name.

Linda Pray, 62, who lives in the 55-and-over community, said her mobile home is across the street from the leasing office, and she was unaware of the incident unfolding outside her door. She took her dog, a rescued maltese mix named "Boston," outside, but was ushered back inside by the SWAT team.

"Then when we went back inside they banged on the back window and told us to grab what we needed and evacuate," said Pray, who in a rush forgot her medication and supplies for her dog. "From my kitchen all you saw was a whole bunch of squad guys. They walked us out with the shield one behind the other."

Pray said the neighborhood is very quiet most days, and most residents are in bed by 9 p.m. She spent most of the time waiting on the curb with her dog for the incident to end. Her roommate walked to the store to get them food and water.

In July, Pray said she will have lived in the mobile home park for seven years. She said she's never had problems with management.

"I don’t like to see anybody get hurt," she said when the incident ended. "I’m just glad all-in-all nobody else was hurt."

Wells said Watenpool hit Albaugh, the park manager, over the head with a gun, which he drew from his waistband because the conversation was not going his way. When negotiators later asked him to release Albaugh, the sheriff said he was aware that if he released him he would be open to whatever the SWAT team wanted to do then.

"We could just not ever get him to that point where he would come out safely," Wells said.

Albaugh was not hurt when the SWAT team entered the clubhouse and exchanged gunfire with Watenpool, Wells said. The manager was taken to an area hospital to be treated for the injuries to his head.

"Our hostage negotiators did an outstanding job to keep him (Watenpool) calm," said Wells. "He made the point several times that this was his day to be heard and this is how he was going to do it."

Watenpool's relatives were brought in to talk to him, but the sheriff did not offer any details about those conversations.

Residents of the park were allowed to return to their properties about 45 minutes after the gunshots. Two nearby schools, Harllee Middle School and Daughtrey Elementary, were on lockdown during the incident.

Investigators remained on the scene for hours, Wells said.

The Sheriff's Office is reviewing the case as it does with all deputy-involved shootings.

AUDIO OF GUNSHOTS (CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE)

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