Armed man who barricaded himself in his Parrish home for seven hours arrested without incident

After seven hours, a standoff between police and an armed man in a Parrish subdivision is over.

David Robert Koverman, 54, was taken into custody without any serious injuries at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.

“It was a peaceful resolution. No one got hurt,” Sheriff Rick Wells said. “He’s in custody now and being evaluated by EMS.”

Details of what charges he will face were not immediately given. Detectives had gotten a search warrant and along with the crime scene unit were going to search the home for evidence.

Deputies were called out at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday to the home Koverman and his wife share in the 3400 block of 162nd Ave. E. in the Twin Rivers subdivision in Parrish after he pulled a gun on her during an argument, fired a couple shots and then pointed it at her, according to Sheriff Rick Wells. She had managed to get out and call 911.

When deputies arrived, they could see Koverman breaking out windows and he fired several shots from the home.

“We set up a perimeter quickly and we were able to evacuate the neighbors from the homes around the suspect,” Wells said.

After numerous attempts to communicate with Koverman, Wells said, sheriff’s office hostage negotiators were able to get him on the phone.

“He was very hostile, very violent, didn’t want to talk to us,” Wells said.

Over the course of seven hours, the sheriff’s deputies methodically tried to get him out of the home. But after deploying tear gas and still not getting Koverman out, SWAT entered the home and found him barricaded inside a closet.

The sheriff’s office helicopter hovered over the home for hours, helping to keep an eye on the suspect and home. But the sheriff’s office also had the assistance of Southern Manatee Fire Rescue and their drone. The drone enabled the sheriff’s office to keep eyes on the suspect each time the helicopter needed to go refuel.

Several K-9 units were on standby throughout most of the standoff and the sheriff’s office mobile command center was set up down the street from Koverman’s home.

Teresa Oar lives down the street and described Koverman as someone who appeared to be struggling with mental illness and/or substance abuse. It appeared to be progressively getting worse.

“He was paranoid,” Oar said. “He had told me two nights ago that he was going back to jail. He didn’t elaborate as to why.”

She had noticed that he had shaved all the hair off his head, however, and he had told her that he was leaving the state.

Oar said she met him about six months ago, and that he lives with his wife in the home but had never met his wife because she travels for work.

A sales representative who shows homes in the quiet subdivision told her he heard about eight shots, she said.

This story was originally published September 20, 2017 at 5:48 PM with the headline "Armed man who barricaded himself in his Parrish home for seven hours arrested without incident."