Bellevue Police: Man Found Dead After Standoff in Apartment Near Bellevue Square

A man was found dead in his apartment around 10:45 a.m., after a standoff that blocked 100th Avenue Northeast near Bellevue Square for almost six hours Monday morning.

Bellevue police went to the man's apartment on 100th Avenue Northeast between Northeast 4th and 8th streets around 5:15 a.m. after his girlfriend, who lives elsewhere, reported that he had threatened suicide and returned to his apartment, police said. The man had threatened to kill himself before, police said.

The man did not have a firearm that police knew about and no one else was threatened, but police blocked 100th Avenue Northeast for several hours and evacuated his apartment building while trying to coax him out of his apartment.

Several attempts were made by crisis negotiators to contact the man via bull horn, phone calls, texts and Facebook, according to police, but all were unsuccessful.

The man was found dead around 10:45 a.m. 

Family members have been contacted. King County Medical Examiners are responsible for the determination of the death and notification to the public, the Bellevue police reported. 

Original story:

A standoff with a suicidal man has lasted for five hours Monday morning near an apartment near Bellevue Square, according to Bellevue Police.

Bellevue Police closed 100th Avenue Northeast between northeast 4th and 8th streets as they tried to coax a suicidal man out of his apartment. 

The 39-year-old man got into an argument with his girlfriend early Monday and drove to his apartment around 5:15 a.m. threatening to kill himself, said police spokeswoman Officer Carla Iafrate.

No one else is being threatened police said.

The man has no known firearms, though he has threatened himself with knives in the past, she said. Bellevue police have dealt with him on the same subject before, she said.

The Bellevue Police Bear Cat truck was deployed, as police tried to contact him through phone, Facebook and text message, she said. The street was still blocked at 10:30 a.m., though the entrance to the west parking lot at Bellevue Square was open.

The street was blocked for everyone's safety, she said.

"We want everyone to be safe, including him," Iafrate said.