Two-hour standoff ends peacefully

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A two-hour standoff between police and a Santa Barbara man wielding a shotgun ended peacefully early this morning when the suspect surrendered to authorities.
Officers arrived at a home in the 800 block of N. Voluntario Street at 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday after reports of a disturbance, Sgt. Lorenzo Duarte of the Santa Barbara Police Department said in a news release.

Police learned that Mario Escobar, 34, had fought with his wife and teenage sons while intoxicated. As his wife dialed 911 and huddled in a bedroom with her children, Escobar could be heard in another room loading and prepping his shotgun, Sgt. Duarte said.
He said Escobar’s wife entered the room and attempted to tug away the shotgun, which Escobar had placed in a nylon case, as other family members fled the home.
“Escobar’s wife was unable to take the nylon case away from Escobar, so she fled the residence and drove the rest of the family to safety a block away,” Sgt. Duarte said in the release.
As police surrounded the home, a member of the department’s Crisis Negotiation Response Team contacted the suspect by phone.
After being told he was under arrest for wielding the firearm, Escobar allegedly told the officer that if police entered his home, he would shoot them.
Following extended dialogue with the suspect, negotiators eventually talked him into surrendering. He was taken into custody without incident at 1:40 a.m., Sgt. Duarte said, adding that officers found a 12-gauge shotgun leaning against the wall of the living room.
Authorities booked Escobar into jail for resisting arrest and brandishing a firearm.