A late-afternoon standoff between police and a man holed up in his Mendota Heights home ended many hours later when officers discovered that the man had killed himself, authorities said Thursday.
Police were called about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday to a townhouse in the 2400 block of Lexington Avenue S. on a report of a domestic dispute.
According to police:
A woman called 911 after the man, identified as Donald P. Richardson Jr., 42, said he was going to get a gun. The woman fled with a small child.
Residents in 36 townhouses were kept out of their homes as officers tried to negotiate with Richardson.
Shortly before midnight, police used a remote camera to survey the home's interior and found Richardson dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Police Chief Mike Aschenbrener said Richardson and the woman "have children together, have lived together and she referred to him as her fiancé."
The chief had no information about what prompted Wednesday's standoff, but he added, "We've had a previous crisis calls there."
