Standoff ends in suicide

Domestic dispute leads to Stotts City man taking his own life in Mt. Vernon
 
A standoff between Tyler Stow, of Stotts City, and members of law enforcement ended tragically when the Stow took his own life in the early morning hours of Monday, Sept. 6. The standoff began at 2:30 a.m. and ended at 5 a.m. when Stow shot himself.
David Hubert, chief of the Mt. Vernon Police Department, said the incident began when Stow got into an argument with his girlfriend.
“He threatened her, told her he was going to commit suicide,” Hubert said, “(so) she called us.”
Hubert said the standoff took place outside of Olive Street Apartments, 303 Olive Street, where police encountered Stow in his vehicle.
“We tried to de-escalate the situation, tried to talk to him,” Hubert said. “The more we talked to him, the more agitated he became.”
At one point, Hubert said, Stow fired shots with his handgun out of his vehicle; no one was hurt by that gunfire.
“We basically had a standoff with him for two-and-a-half, three hours,” Hubert said. “He shot his handgun out the window of his truck a couple of times; he ended up committing suicide.”
After the shots were fired, Hubert said, Mt. Vernon Police contacted the Monett Police Department for help.
“We called Monett’s Emergency Response Team to come, because they have a bullet-proof vehicle that you can approach to get a lot closer to the vehicle with that vehicle,” he said.
Hubert added that if a problem has someone angry or upset, there are better ways to handle the situation.
“Life’s too short; life is fragile,” he said. “If you’re having domestic issues, it’s not the end of the world.”