A man with a firearm engaged Pueblo law enforcement in an hours-long standoff Sunday evening on the Union Avenue Bridge, but was apprehended peacefully despite firing the weapon in the air, pointing it at police and aiming it at his own head.

"We had a suicidal man on the bridge with a gun. He did fire one round off in the air," said Pueblo police Sergeant David Woods. "We negotiated with him for probably a good hour or so and finally were able to get him into custody safely down at the river bottom."

The call came over the police scanner shortly after 5 p.m., and dozens of Pueblo emergency units comprised of police, fire department, park ranger and emergency medical personnel blocked off Union Avenue from West Corona Avenue to West B Street.

The unidentified man paced up and down the bridge while being spoken to by police, alternating between standing and sitting on the sidewalk of the bridge's northern side, behaving erratically and frequently pointing the gun at his own head or in the direction of police.

"We were wondering why so many cops were there and I thought I saw a body on the bridge, so me and my son came over to see what's going on," witness Jose Hernandez said. "Then we heard somebody talking up on the bridge and we looked up, and that's when we saw the gun."

Hernandez, who had come to the Union Depot to meet with his boss, said he could see the man pointing the gun to his head and, at one point, was forced to duck down as the suicidal man turned toward him.

Then, just before 6:45 p.m., the man fired a shot into the air from what appeared to be a handgun, prompting police to push back their perimeters to ensure the safety of the dozen-or-so Puebloans who'd gathered to observe the commotion.

Woods said the incident seemingly began because of a domestic disturbance, and Hernandez said that prior to firing the shot into the air, the man had been repeatedly asking to speak with his mother.

"He just kept saying, 'I'll put the gun down as soon as I talk to my mom.' And then he did shoot one up in the air," Hernandez said.

The man eventually walked westward on the bridge before lowering himself down a trail into the Arkansas River, where he situated himself on a small embankment in the water.

As the sun went down, a Pueblo police cruiser shined a spotlight onto the man while an officer repeatedly broadcast, "This is the Pueblo Police Department, put your hands up in the air and walk toward the trail. We have people there to assist you. We are not going to hurt you."

The man, who may have been intoxicated, did not respond to the officer's request but eventually fell asleep on the embankment, allowing officers to enter into the river and apprehend him.

Because the man pointed the gun at police, Woods said he will "most likely" be booked into the Pueblo County Jail on a variety of charges, including menacing.

zhillstrom@chieftain.com