Hours-long standoff with armed suspect near uptown ends peacefully, CMPD says
A seven-hour standoff with an armed man near a popular music venue outside uptown Charlotte ended peacefully early Tuesday, according to police.
Robert Andrew Rios, 35, locked himself inside an apartment in the 600 block of NC Music Factory Boulevard after a woman told Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers that he’d assaulted and fired a gun near her, CMPD said in a news release.
Rios got into an argument with his girlfriend and proceeded to shoot a round into his apartment floor, officials told Observer news partner WBTV.
Police responded shortly before 8 p.m. Monday to a domestic disturbance and assault with deadly weapon call. Officers knocked on the front door of the apartment and announced themselves, but when they told Rios to show his hands, he revealed a gun instead, police said.
Rios then barricaded himself in the apartment, prompting officers to immediately move into positions of cover and establish a perimeter, police said. SWAT officers and negotiators also responded to the call and made multiple attempts to contact Rios.
Warrants were obtained during the standoff, police said.
Just before 3 a.m. Tuesday, Rios peacefully surrendered after speaking with negotiators. He was taken to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office and charged with aggravated assault with a gun, aggravated assault on a female, discharging a firearm to enclose or incite fear and communicating threats, according to police.
CMPD officers did not fire their weapons during the standoff, but a “distraction device” was deployed outside of Rios’ balcony, police said.
