Neighbor Describes Atmosphere During 6-Hour Standoff

A 6-hour standoff shut down an entire Royal Oak neighborhood on Tuesday.

Larry Steed was working in his yard at approximately 10:15 a.m. when he noticed police roping off Minerva Avenue. Steed said he did not know at the time that Royal Oak Police had information that a man wanted by the Franklin Police Department was in a house on Sprague Avenue, just one block away.

Steed watched as police slowly started bringing in more and more equipment and evacuating homes.

"The police told a couple of people that were in the line of fire and they had to stay in their house. They kept one guy that was on a motorcycle from getting back to his house," Steed said. "Some neighbors were hiding in their basement nervous."

As the standoff intensified, the Southeast Oakland SWAT arrived and Steed could hear a negotiator.

"I heard them say a couple of times this is the Royal Oak Police Department, pick up your phone."

From his front yard, Steed watched as the Oakland County Tactical Team arrived on the scene and set up a remote controlled robot equipped with audio and video surveillance. 

Steed allowed the team to enter his house to charge a couple of items and offered officers water throughout the long standoff.

"This kind of thing doesn't happen everyday in this neighborhood," he said.

The robot would later enter the house on Sprague and locate 33-year-old Thomas Ian Matthews, of Franklin, dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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