Pinellas Park SWAT standoff ends with suspect's death; wife hospitalized

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A six-and-a-half hour standoff with SWAT officers ended in a suspect's death after officers' attempts to coax the man from his Pinellas Park home failed.

The suspect was accused of shooting his wife, who remained in critical condition in the hospital Wednesday evening.

According to police, the woman was at the Pinellas Professional Center on 66th Street North when the man showed up and forced her outside before 8 a.m. They proceeded to argue in the parking lot and the man shot her several times.

The man fled back to his nearby home, which is in the area of 67th Street and 80th Avenue. That’s where SWAT officers have arrived to try and arrest him.

"Within two minutes, all of Pinellas Park's police department was here," said Gary Earle, a neighbor, "and the SWAT team came the negotiation team came and he was waving his gun around. Then he sat down in the doorway and they were talking to him. Then it started getting a little serious and they put the tape up and everyone had to disperse."

Negotiators spent the afternoon trying to talk him out. Just before 2:30 p.m., police said they tried to use non-lethal force to take the suspect into custody, but when that didn't work they had to resort to deadly force. 

The suspect died from his injuries.

The female victim, identified as the suspect's wife, was taken to Bayfront Medical Center in critical condition.

No identities have been released.

The state attorney's office along with the police department are investigating.