Police arrest man who fired shots, barricaded himself

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) -- A South Florida man who barricaded himself inside a home after firing shots into the air has been arrested.

Miami Beach Police took the 53-year-old man into custody at around 7 a.m. Thursday after finding him in a crawl space inside his home.

At around 1 a.m., police received calls regarding shots fired on the 6900 block of Rue Granville. Authorities arrived on scene and spoke to the man's wife. "Initially, a female came to the door and told them everything was fine and to leave," said Miami Beach Police Deputy Chief Mark Overton. "The officers suspected that something was wrong."

Officials set up a perimeter stretching from Normandy Drive to 71st Street.

The police officers soon determined that the woman's husband had fired the shots. "The husband was under the influence of some type of narcotics and became paranoid that there were people outside," said Overton. "So, he walked outside and began to fire his shotgun into the air in an attempt to scare the alleged intruders he thought were in his yard. He was hallucinating and having those issues."

His wife and teenage son exited the home home, but the man went back inside.

Officials fired OC gas into the home in hopes of getting the man out, and traffic in the area of Normandy Drive and 71st Street was diverted for seven hours until authorities were able to apprehend the man.

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