(Radio Iowa) – A man is facing charges after a standoff in the back of a police car near Sioux City Heelan High School this (Thursday) morning. Sioux City police sergeant Jeremy McClure says the officers had stopped a suspect possibly involved in an armed robbery near the high school around 11:30 and put him in the patrol car.

“He was handcuffed in the back of the squad car and indicated that he had a firearm. Officers checked and it turned out that he did have a firearm in his hand. And so, we backed up and began negotiating with him as he was threatening to do harm to himself,” he says. The sergeant says they tried for an hour to get the man to give up the gun.

He says they reached out to the man’s family members to help with the negotiations, but the man became more agitated, and tactical team officers moved in. “As they were moving up a shot was fired from inside the vehicle…the tactical officers used chemical munitions to make it an environment he did not want to be in anymore. At that point, he surrendered peacefully,” according to McClure. The man was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Bishop Heelan High School was placed on lockdown during the incident. Fourth District Iowa Congressman Randy Feenstra was visiting the high school at the time of the incident and remained inside until the man was taken into custody.