Fort Worth police take man in custody after bomb report

A Fort Worth man in his 30s was in custody Saturday afternoon after barricading himself in a home in the 5400 block of Whitman Avenue for several hours and prompting police to evacuate nearby homes.

A witness went to a Police Department substation at about 5 a.m. and reported that a man at the home “was possibly unstable and could have bombmaking materials inside the residence,” said Cpl. Tracey Knight, a police spokeswoman.

Police and fire officials responded and set up a perimeter as a precaution, Knight said, and houses within a half-block of the home were evacuated.

The police SWAT team and hostage negotiators were called, Knight said, and after the negotiators talked to the man on the phone, he came out in the late morning without incident.

The Fire Department then used a robot to make an initial search of the home, followed by a search by arson/bomb personnel in protective suits, Lt. Kyle Falkner, a Fire Department spokesman, said in a news release. Once the home was deemed safe, the evacuation was lifted.

Authorities said charges had not been filed. The man had warrants for unpaid tickets but is not believed to have a criminal history, Knight said. He is possibly mentally unstable, she said, and if he’s deemed to be a danger to himself or others, he will be hospitalized for evaluation. He lives at the residence, but he’s not the homeowner, she said.

Fire investigators cleared the scene and turned the home over to the homeowner at about 6 p.m., according to a tweet.

Staff writers Mark David Smith and Patrick M. Walker contributed to this report.

This story was originally published November 8, 2014 at 2:02 PM with the headline "Fort Worth police take man in custody after bomb report."