After a long standoff with police, a gunman finally turned himself in and released the three people he was holding hostage at a North Carolina drugstore Friday morning.
The suspect was identified as Edward Scott Russ, a 46-year-old Gastonia man who attempted to rob a CVS pharmacy in Belmont located about 15 miles west of Charlotte, reports KKTV. He was allegedly armed with a SKS scope mounted rifle with several loaded magazines, police said.
Officers were called to the store shortly after 1:45 a.m. and exchanged gunfire with Russ before realizing that hostages were inside the store, Belmont Police Sgt. John Wilson said.
"He started screaming that he had hostages," Police Chief Charlie Franklin said, according to the Associated Press. Two men and a woman were in the store.
For more than four hours, three employees were held hostage inside before they were released sometime after 4 a.m., however, the gunman still refused to surrender.
"He told hostages he would not harm them, if they just did what he told them," Franklin said.
During the standoff, WBTV reports that police used surveillance footage from inside the store to monitor the suspect. "It gave us insight into what area of the store he was in and what state of mind he was in," Franklin said.
Police said they watched as the gunman took several prescription pills from the pharmacy and swallowed them. It was not immediately clear what medications were taken.
The officers left the store and called for backup. Officers from nearby Gastonia, Gaston County and Mount Holly surrounded the store while authorities negotiatiated with the man.
Eventually, a police negotiator convinced the man to surrender around 7 a.m. Police say he was calm when he exited the store.
"He laid the weapon down on the counter and came out with his hands in the air," Franklin said.
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