A Texas woman shut down a major interstate after sitting in the middle of the highway on a lawn chair with a gun, refusing to move and threatening to shoot herself in a tense, hours-long standoff with police.
It happened on Interstate 45 in Spring, just north of Houston. The 64-year-old woman had just crashed her car into the back of a semi-truck when she pulled out a chair and a revolver and sat down in the middle of the road. No one was injured in the crash.
Police closed off both the northbound and southbound lanes as the woman refused to follow commands from officers, ABC News reports.
“The suspect refuses to comply with verbal commands and is refusing to drop the weapon,” said a spokesperson from Harris County Constable Precinct 4 during the incident.
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez of Harris County said the woman repeatedly pointed the gun at herself, making it dangerous for anyone to get close.
“She persistently kept it to her face, her throat, her head, therefore making it very difficult for us to approach her and take the gun away,” Gonzalez said.
The sheriff said she spoke of suicide and appeared to be in the middle of a mental health crisis.
“It was a very delicate situation throughout the whole ordeal,” he said. “She has some mental illnesses that she’s dealing with so there’s no rationality as far as what’s taken place. There is some history of psychosis, so that’s to be determined.”
Crisis negotiators were called in, but the situation didn’t change until her daughter was brought to the scene.
“We allowed her to speak to her daughter to let her know her daughter was safe,” Gonzalez said. “That was something that kept her here with us from doing something foolish. Once she realized her daughter was here, she was safe, she was going to be allowed to see her again, it got better at that point.”
He added that the woman seemed to drift “in-and-out” during the standoff.
After hours on the highway, the woman finally surrendered. No one was hurt, and police say the outcome could have been much worse.
“We saved a life,” said Major Cedrick Collier. “The good thing is someone’s mother and grandmother is coming home tonight.”
Watch the video below from KHOU-11 News for more details on the incident.
