Cape police: Standoff ends after man passes out

~ No one was injured in the incident early Thursday morning.

A Poplar Bluff, Mo., man was taken into custody Thursday after local police responded to an early morning call that a man was armed, drunk and suicidal at his girlfirend's Cape Girardeau residence.

Everett Way, 46, faces a felony charge of unlawful use of a weapon and was in custody at the Cape Girardeau jail on a $7,500 cash-only bond, police said. No one was injured in the incident.

Police received a 911 call at 3:35 a.m. from Way's girlfriend, who said Way was "suicidal and had a gun to his head," said Cape Girardeau police spokesman Jason Selzer.

Earlier in the morning, Selzer said, Way had been drinking heavily, waving a gun around and threatening to hurt himself while he was talking to his 30-year-old son on the phone.

While talking to his son, Selzer said, Way fired the gun into the fireplace at his girlfriend's residence at 1422 Bertling St. The only other person at the residence was Way's girlfriend.

Several police responded to the residence and created a perimeter, blocking the street near the intersection of Bertling Street and West End Boulevard. Selzer said he did not know if Way ever knew the police were outside the home.

Police Sgt. Rick Schmidt called the residence and spoke to Way's girlfriend. Schmidt told her to get out of the home if she could. The girlfriend said she believed Way was on the verge of passing out, Selzer said.

At 4:35 a.m., the woman emerged from the house, bringing Way's gun with him. She told police he had passed out and she had taken the gun.

"She didn't tell police she was going to do that," Selzer said. "We would have advised her not to."

The woman also told police Way had never threatened her, Selzer said.

When police entered the house, they found Way passed out on the living-room floor. Selzer said Way awoke and reached toward where the gun had been.

Way would not comply with orders to give up, so he was Tasered, Selzer said. He was then handcuffed and taken to the police station.

A phone call to the girlfriend's residence was not returned. No one answered the door when a reporter knocked Thursday afternoon.

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137