An armed suspect is now in custody after an hours-long standoff with police at the 627 mile marker on Interstate Highway 20 in Harrison County, Saturday.
“The suspect is in custody,” Lt. Jay Webb with the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office reported at noon Saturday.
“No shots were fired,” Webb confirmed. He noted that the weapon has also been recovered.
Traffic on I-20 was at a stand-still for more than three hours Saturday morning due to the stand-off between law enforcement and a reported armed driver in a possibly stolen truck.
The highway was shutdown in both directions, east and west, as a matter of safety, Webb said.
“The driver of the vehicle has numerous warrants and he is currently in a standoff. He is armed and we are working through it,” Webb reported at 10:53 a.m., Saturday, as the standoff was active.
The stand-off was at the 627 mile marker, eastbound, near the Scottsville area. At around 10:46 a.m., one driver stuck in traffic informed the News Messenger that the incident had halted the traffic flow on I-20 for a little more than three hours, at the time.
Waskom Police Chief Westy Meisenheimer said his agency had been active on the scene, trying to de-congest the traffic.
“We’re diverting all westbound traffic at the 633 mile marker to Highway 80,” Chief Meisenheimer told the News Messenger around 11 a.m.
“We got the interstate closed from 633(mile marker) to 627,” he said. “So it’s a heck of a traffic jam.”
The Waskom police chief said he believed authorities in Louisiana were helping divert traffic, too.
“It’s a total gridlock,” he said, at the time.
Authorities were successful in spiking the vehicle, bringing the driver to a halt. The swat team was on scene, negotiating with the suspect before successfully apprehending him.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Traffic on Interstate Highway 20 in Harrison County is currently at a stand-still due to a stand-off, around the 627 mile marker, between law enforcement and a reported armed driver in a possibly stolen truck, officials confirmed, Saturday.
“There is a shutdown of the highway in both directions for safety,” confirmed Lt. Jay Webb with the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office.
“The driver of the vehicle has numerous warrants and he is currently in a standoff,” said Webb. “He is armed and we are working through it.”
The stand-off is at the 627 mile marker, eastbound, near the Scottsville area. The incident has halted the traffic flow on I-20 for a little more than three hours now, one driver told the News Messenger, around 10:46 a.m.
Waskom Police Chief Westy Meisenheimer said his agency has been active on the scene, trying to de-congest the traffic.
“We’re diverting all westbound traffic at the 633 mile marker to Highway 80,” Chief Meisenheimer told the News Messenger around 11 a.m.
“We got the interstate closed from 633 (mile marker) to 627,” he said. “So it’s a heck of a traffic jam.”
The Waskom police chief said he believes authorities in Louisiana are helping divert traffic, too.
“It’s a total gridlock,” he said.
“The stand-off is active; it’s going on; it’ hadn’t been resolved,” he said. “It’s in the middle of the interstate.”
Meisenheimer said he understands the suspect’s vehicle has been spiked, however, and the swat team is currently involved in negotiations with the actor.