FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A SWAT standoff in Fort Lauderdale that disrupted residents for hours overnight stemmed from a reported carjacking and kidnapping, authorities said.
According to Fort Lauderdale Police, officers received a call at around 9:34 p.m. on Thursday about a man claiming he needed help. They located the man near Northeast 18th Street, where he reported being carjacked and kidnapped at gunpoint.
The victim was transported to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
In an effort to locate the suspect or suspects, FLPD’s SWAT team responded to the 1100 block of Northeast 18th Street, early Friday morning.
“Fort Lauderdale SWAT team! Come to the door with your hands up!” said an officer.
The standoff, which began around midnight and ended at 5 a.m., involved the use of drones, a K-9 unit, and flash bangs, according to witnesses.
“They had a drone flying up over the area, as well over in the area as well, so, yeah, it’s been something,” said resident Nilo Sudback. “I originally walked outside my apartment about a quarter after 11 p.m., and here we are; it’s after 2 a.m., and we still haven’t been able to get back.”
7News spoke to a neighbor who said he was evacuated from his apartment by SWAT teams.
“That’s when they got a bullhorn and they were like, ‘This is the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. If you’re in apartment number 2, come out with your hands up,'” Marcus said. “And then it just continued like that for a couple hours, and that’s when SWAT came. Before 4 a.m., that’s when they banged on my door, and then they told me, ‘You need to get out of the apartment just in case something happens, we’re trying to extract someone out of the apartment next door.’ Wound up nobody being inside.”
Rick and Jackie Bachman, who lives next door to the evacuated apartment building, said they heard the standoff.
“I heard like a bullhorn, and I looked outside my front window, and it was just a whole jamboree of cops,” said Jackie.
“It was sometime after five in the morning, I heard two loud booms,” said Rick.
A Ring camera outside the apartment building captured authorities approaching the front door in full SWAT gear with their weapons out.
By 7 a.m., residents were allowed to return to their homes.
It remains unclear whether or not anyone was found inside the apartment, but neighbors told 7News the apartment unit was empty.
Police said one person was taken into custody, but it’s unclear if they were being questioned or arrested.
They said the investigation remains active as they work to confirm the circumstances surrounding the incident.
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