Six-hour standoff ends after Charlotte rape suspect shoots himself, SWAT responds

A man suspected of abducting and sexually assaulting a woman at gunpoint in Charlotte barricaded himself in his home for six hours on Tuesday in a standoff with police and died by suicide, authorities say.

Police say the 31-year-old man shot himself at the home in west Charlotte just after 2 p.m. Tuesday. He was hospitalized and later died, according to a statement Wednesday morning from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police.

Charges were pending against him for multiple felonies related to what CMPD described as a violent sexual assault. Detectives and patrol officers with CMPD’s Metro Division were at the man’s home earlier in the day related to the sexual assault investigation, CMPD officials said in a news statement late Tuesday.

The investigation stemmed from a report of a woman who was “forced into a car at gunpoint, taken to an unknown location, and raped at gunpoint” on Monday night, reported WSOC, the Observer’s news partner, citing a police incident report. The report address is near a gas station on Beatties Ford Road, WSOC reported.

SWAT was called to the man’s house after he refused to talk with police on Tuesday morning, CMPD said. No one else was in the home on Columbus Circle, a few blocks from West Morehead Street and Freedom Drive, close to uptown.

“CMPD’s Sexual Assault Unit detectives obtained arrest warrants for the suspect for multiple felony charges related to a violent sex assault incident,” a statement from CMPD said. “Officers also coordinated with the suspect’s family and an outside community agency to attempt to contact the suspect and peacefully resolve the situation. Attempts to communicate with the suspect and facilitate a peaceful surrender were unsuccessful.”