Fourth Plain standoff ends peacefully

Vancouver Police, including SWAT officers, blocked off a section of Fourth Plain Boulevard after hearing reports of an armed suicidal man in the area. The standoff ended peacefully about 10 a.m. when the man surrendered.

The man was taken into custody without incident, said Kim Kapp, police spokeswoman.

Reports came in around 7:30 a.m. Officers blocked off Fourth Plain between Northeast Stapleton Road and Northeast 62nd Avenue in central Vancouver.

The man was in a car at the parking lot of a business.

Negotiators and an armored vehicle were called to the scene. The negotiators successfully talked the man into coming out of vehicle and giving himself up to authorities.

Nearby businesses were temporarily placed into lockdown, according to radio traffic monitored at The Columbian.

Nearby Fort Vancouver High School was temporarily in a modified lockdown, meaning students were free to move throughout the school but weren’t allowed to exit the building, said Pat Mattison, spokeswoman for the district.

The incident put a snag in the usual bus routes for some kids heading to school, said Colleen Sounders, a dispatcher with Vancouver Public Schools.

Some students couldn’t be picked up to go to McLoughlin Middle School, others were escorted by police to the bus stop and a few bus drivers modified their routes, she said.

After given the all clear, the school district ran a bus through the area and picked up a handful of students, Sounders said.