Tense standoff ends peacefully in San Jose neighborhood

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Things are getting back to normal in a San Jose neighborhood after several tense hours on Tuesday. A man is in custody after threatening to harm himself in a home with his 6-year-old daughter inside.

Everyone is safe and no one was hurt.

San Jose police took over the neighborhood at around 1:45 a.m. after receiving a call for an armed man threatening to harm himself.

SJPD's SWAT team, called the MERGE Unit, was brought in just after 5 a.m. Adjacent homes on Arthur Avenue near Story Road were evacuated. Officers woke people up and took them out of the danger zone.

"Something big... this never happens. We have a safe neighborhood. So this was very shocking to us," neighbor Yvette Cruz said.

Police negotiations took hours and became more intense once investigators realized the man had his 6-year-old daughter inside the home.

Officers were preparing for a long day by shutting down parts of Story Road, creating a huge command post and even bringing out a robot just in case.

"I did talk to one of the hostage negotiators. They did say that he was reasonable when they were talking to them. And that he did want to surrender. He was just kind of trying to figure out how to go about doing that," SJPD Ofc. Albert Morales said.

At about 7:30 a.m., Sky7 was above the scene when they all figured it out.

Jose Lopez, 43, surrendered peacefully to police. His 6-year-old daughter was unharmed and eventually handed over to her mother.

"That's the ultimate goal anytime you have a situation like this. And I think our officers did an exceptional job in getting him to go ahead and surrender and obviously turn over the 6 year old safely," Morales said.

Lopez will be booked in the Santa Clara County Jail on several charges including domestic violence and making criminal threats.