Man arrested after hours-long standoff at Meijer in Michigan City

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (WNDU) - A man is in police custody after an hours-long standoff over the weekend at a Meijer store in Michigan City ended with the suspect shooting himself.

Police say they were called just after 9 p.m. Saturday to the Baymont Motel on Franklin Street on reports of children possibly being battered by a man in the room.

When officers arrived, they spoke with the mom of the children, who said she and her boyfriend, 27-year-old Nathaniel Gruntzel, were arguing because she found out he was currently wanted in the state of Wisconsin for the sexual assault of a child under the age of 13.

She told police he took her car keys and was sitting inside of her car in the parking lot.

After finding her car, police say Gruntzel exited the vehicle and started running toward a nearby Meijer store. He eventually jumped over a fence into the Garden Center at the Meijer.

The officers were able to contain Gruntzel within the Garden Center, but they say he placed the barrel of a gun he had in his possession on his head and threatened suicide.

The store was evacuated, and a crisis negotiator was called to the scene. The crisis negotiator tried for over six hours to get Gruntzel to put the gun down and surrender, but Gruntzel eventually shot himself in the upper torso.

Gruntzel was taken to the emergency room at Franciscan Health but was later transported to a hospital in South Bend for advanced care. Police say his injuries do not appear to be life threatening.

According to police, Gruntzel will remain under 24-hour guard until he is released from the hospital. Once he is released, he will be taken to the LaPorte County Jail.

In addition to Gruntzel’s arrest warrant in Wisconsin, Michigan City police say they will ask prosecutors to charge him with resisting law enforcement, unlawful carrying of a firearm and disorderly conduct.

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