Fort Myers man found dead in Dunbar Street home's attic after police try serving warrant

Michael Braun, Fort Myers News-Press
·2 min read

A situation involving a Dunbar Street resident and Fort Myers police ended after about four hours Tuesday when officers found the man's body in the attic of his home.

At a media briefing later Tuesday Fort Myers police Capt. Shawn Yates said officers came to 2800 block of Dunbar Street to serve a search warrant on a felony investigation around 2 p.m.

"Going into the search warrant they had charges on one subject for aggravated battery and kidnapping," Yates said. "As detectives ... came up to the residence the subject was outside and fled into the residence, eventually working his way into the attic."

A situation involving a Dunbar Street resident and Fort Myers police Tuesday ended after about four hours when the man's body was found in the attic of his home.
A situation involving a Dunbar Street resident and Fort Myers police Tuesday ended after about four hours when the man's body was found in the attic of his home.

Yates said several hours of attempted negotiations ensued.

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"We used everything we could to resolve this incident peacefully,"  he said, adding "We were not able to get any response from him."

"During the investigation we did learn the subject was under the influence of drugs."

Yates said they tried trained hostage negotiators to bringing the man's sister in to draw him out and eventually trying tear gas.

"That was not successful," he said.

Eventually, several hours into the incident, Yates said the Fort Myers police swat team made its way up into the attic and found the man dead around 6 p.m.

"With heartfelt emotion, we are very sorry on the outcome of this," he said, offering condolences to the family.

Because of the death, Yates said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is handling the investigation and will determine the cause of death.

"We do that so we have transparency," Yates said, "and make sure we are doing everything correctly."

Connect with breaking news reporter Michael Braun: MichaelBraunNP (Facebook), @MichaelBraunNP (Twitter) or mbraun@news-press.com. 

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Fort Myers man found dead in attic after police try serving warrant