Man dead after SWAT standoff

NEAR FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) -- Police have found a man dead inside a home after a SWAT standoff Monday afternoon.

Linda Martin and her neighbors watched as K-9s and officers surrounded a home on Northeast 56th Street and Third Avenue at around 4 p.m. "We heard shots, and that's when the SWAT team and everyone came out," said Martin.

Broward SWAT team members had machine guns loaded and in hand as they searched for a suspect that lead them to that home. "All the neighbors here, they can't go to their homes, and that's the rec center there where all the kids in after school care go," said Martin, "so it's unsettling that it's right across the street from there."

BSO, along with the SWAT team, surrounded the home at the request of the Seminole Tribe Police Department. Police have been working with the FBI and the Secret Service to locate a man, who allegedly robbed the Seminal Casino Coconut Creek at gunpoint on Jan. 29. "One individual came into the second floor poker room, the cashier area, and stole several thousand dollars," said Gary Bitner of the Seminole Tribe Police Department.

The SWAT team took two men and a woman into custody. Then, at around 5 p.m., gunshots were heard from inside the home. The fourth person had been located but was pronounced dead on the scene. "The people did make contact with him. He did respond at one point, and then shortly after the shots were fired, he stopped responding," said Dani Moschella, spokesperson for the Broward Sheriff's Office.

The standoff lasted five hours. Police believe the man found dead inside may have taken his own life. Investigators also think he was responsible for the casino robbery. However, police did not find the stolen cash in the home. BSO homicide has not yet released his identity.

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