JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man was taken into custody by SWAT after he barricaded himself in a Westside hotel room, Thursday night.
Around 7:10 p.m. the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office received a call from management at the Diamond Inn Motel, located at 5929 Ramona Boulevard, about a vandalism in progress.
Police said suspect, Shawn Morrow (pictured below), refused to pay his bill and barricaded himself in his hotel room.
"We watched him destroy the room from the outside and we heard him destroying the room from the inside. When we got there he was making threats against the police and making threats to hurt himself, he displayed a knife. At that point, it was something at the patrol level that we weren't going to go in and make contact ourselves," said Sergeant J.D. Warren.
According to JSO, there was some dispute between him and management about him owing money. Management asked him to leave, and apparently, he refused to leave and decided to barricade himself in the room.
JSO said at some point he even contacted the Sheriff's Office and said he was armed and he had weapons and that if anybody tried to come in, that he would hurt him. At that point SWAT was called in.
Morrow blocked the door, broke front plate glass window, took furniture to close off broken window and barricaded himself inside, according to police. Three levels of the east side of the hotel were evacuated.
"[SWAT] had to breach the room, go in and take him into custody. He's going to be going to jail for a felony warrant on criminal mischief."
Police said Morrow had been staying alone at that motel for about a week.
According to JSO, Morrow has a criminal history and was currently on probation for a previous vandalism case.
Morrow's family was called to the hotel and told police Morrow has a history of mental illness and had been Baker Acted from Jacksonville by police.
Family says he has mental illness in the past, Baker Acted by jso
Police told News4Jax the man is expected to make a court appearance sometime Friday.