UPDATE: MAN INVOLVED IN FOSTERS STANDOFF HAS DIED

4:22 p.m. UPDATE: After a five-hour standoff, a suspect has died after shooting himself in his home.

The standoff took place on Sand Road, just north of Dry Creek Road in Fosters. The U.S. Marshals Task Force served a fugitive a warrant out of South Carolina, who refused to go easily.

“Units from our agency with a number of other agencies responded to the area,” Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ron Abernathy said. “Once we got on the scene, we began negotiations. The subject refused to come out after many hours of discussing it, trying to communicate and trying to get him out.”

Abernathy said James Robert Suttles, 56, made a number of threatening statements before shooting himself in the head.

“We actually gained entry to one of the windows using the BearCat vehicle,” he said. “The suspect then fired upon the BearCat vehicle. At that time, they continued to take some windows out. We deployed gas rounds inside the residence to try get him to come out in a peaceful manner. He actually left out of the residence after the gas was deployed, went downstairs to a basement area of the outside porch and was positioned there with a long rifle in his mouth. Officers there continued to negotiate with him for an extended period of time and the subject eventually shot himself with a self-inflicted wound.”

Emergency personnel were already positioned and were able to respond to the suspect quickly. He was transported to DCH Regional Medical Center, where he later died.

According to the Associated Press, Suttles “was wanted in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, on a state warrant for harassing communications. He also faced additional warrants for burglary and property damage.”

2:55 p.m. UPDATE: Tuscaloosa authorities confirm the man involved in a standoff this morning in Fosters has died.

12:02 p.m. UPDATE: The suspect shot himself and has been taken to DCH Regional Medical Center. He is in critical condition.

The suspect has been identified as 56-year-old James Robert Suttles.

U.S. Marshals, along with Tuscaloosa Police and the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office are currently involved in a standoff with a man wanted in South Carolina.

It started around 7 this morning when the U.S. Marshal’s Task Force attempted serving a fugitive warrant from South Carolina at a home on Sand Road in Fosters.

The suspect fired shots at the task force before barricading himself inside the home. Authorities believe he is the only occupant of the home, and they are in communication with the male suspect.

This story will be updated as new information becomes available.

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