Baby safe after gunman surrenders in Rochester Hills standoff

An overnight standoff with a Rochester Hills man held his wife and 10-month-old son at gunpoint ended with no injuries Saturday morning.

Oakland County Sheriff’s deputies responded to neighbors’ reports of a loud domestic dispute at a residence on the 700 block of Le Grand Boulevard in the Rochester Estates mobile home park in Rochester Hills at around 2 a.m. Saturday.

As deputies approached the residence, they saw through a window a man throwing a woman — later determined to be his wife — to the ground, according to Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard. As deputies attempted to enter the residence, the man pointed a high-powered AR-15 rifle at the door.

He kicked the door shut as deputies tried to enter. He also had locked the door and blocked it with a couch.

Deputies then established a perimeter and called in a SWAT team, who then moved neighbors to safety.

“Over the rest of the night, the SWAT team’s first order of business was to try to establish contact with that house and then also evacuate the neighbors,” Bouchard said. “We used some of our armored vehicles to remove the neighbors from the home which are in close proximity and had no safe place to shelter them.”

At one point, the gunman’s wife was able to sneak out of the residence, but the gunman still had his 10-month-old son as a hostage.

Bouchard said negotiators were able to coax the man out of the home without incident at around 9 a.m. Saturday.

Investigators were at the scene Saturday speaking with the victim and checking out the residence.

The wife had visible red marks on her face from the assault, according to police.

The semi-automatic rifle and two other guns were taken as evidence

The gunman, 34, was arrested and lodged at the Oakland County Jail — pending charges. He had two outstanding warrants out for his arrest.

“The detectives are still working on it,” Bouchard said. “It’s still very much a work in progress.”