Man Shoots At Lawnmower, Police, Code Compliance Officers Over Tall Grass

A Texas man was taken into custody following a four-hour standoff with a SWAT team. The incident started around 8:30 a.m. on Friday (July 16) when officers with the Fort Worth Police Department escorted Code Compliance Officers and a lawnmower crew to the man's home.

The man had been ordered to mow his lawn but refused, so the city sent a crew to issue him a citation and cut his grass.

Officers knocked on the door several times, but nobody answered. When the lawnmower crew began to work, the man opened a window and started shooting towards them and the officers.

Luckily, nobody was injured, and the officers took cover until the SWAT team arrived.

"We heard like around five to six shots," neighbor Melissa Sandoval told KDFI. "And that's whenever I actually screamed because I never heard that before."

The man barricaded himself inside his home and refused to leave. After nearly four hours, the SWAT team fired tear gas canisters into the house. The man then came outside wearing a hazmat suit and was arrested without further incident.

Police said he was armed when he was taken into custody and is facing charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

"This is the craziest thing I've seen in this neighborhood in the year since I moved here," neighbor Chris Morken told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "The only other thing I've seen were some kids fighting on the corner. It's usually pretty quiet.

"It was really odd to see police in riot gear running down the street in front of my house," he said. "Guys in suits with guns — it was strange."

The suspect was not identified, but police officials said they have had issues with the homeowner dating back to 2010.