ST. CLOUD - Police arrested a man after a nearly eight-hour standoff Tuesday in south St. Cloud, Assistant Police Chief Jeff Oxton said in a news release.

The standoff began when the Central Minnesota Violent Offender Task Force launched a drug raid just after 8:30 a.m. at an apartment in the 2700 block of 16th Street S.

Oxton said a 37-year-old man inside the apartment threatened to shoot officers and himself before firing once through a wall and into the hallway, where police waited.

No one was hit, and officers did not return fire, according to the release.

Authorities evacuated the apartment complex, closed nearby streets and asked the public via Twitter to avoid the area.

St. Cloud's SWAT team crisis negotiators and tactical officers arrived and began several hours of phone negotiations. The man surrendered peacefully just before 4 p.m.

He was taken to Stearns County Jail, where he awaited charges related to the incident, Oxton said. The Star Tribune generally does not name suspects until they have been charged.