A 33-year-old Mechanicsville man shot himself to death Sunday night after a six-hour standoff with police.
George Robert Farrell died of apparently self-inflicted gunshot wounds after police surrounded his Mechanicsville house, following a domestic violence report.
St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the residence on Mechanicsville Road for a reported domestic assault. Once on the scene they contacted a female victim who described the verbal dispute and subsequent assault. She had visible signs of injury, according to a police account of the incident.
The victim notified the deputies that she was threatened with a handgun and said that Farrell had access to at least two “long guns,” according to a police. Deputies made contact with the suspect, who allegedly threatened to kill himself or have the deputies shoot him.
Deputies established a perimeter and the Emergency Services Team and negotiators responded at approximately 6:37 p.m. At 11:11 p.m., police were prepared to douse their spotlights and fire tear gas into the house.
Just before midnight, shots were fired from inside the residence. Members of the Emergency Services Team stormed the house and found Farrell dead from a apparently self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
The investigation and scene were turned over to detectives from the Bureau of Criminal Investigations. Police re-opened nearby roads at 12:17 a.m.