A Texas highway was shut down Thursday for several hours after a 64-year-old woman involved in a crash pulled out a gun and a lawn chair and sat in one of the lanes, sparking an hourslong standoff, authorities said Thursday.
The incident — which unfolded on Interstate 45 in the Spring area, north of Houston — “ended peacefully,” authorities said when the woman surrendered. No one was hurt in the incident.
“We saved a life,” said Maj. Cedrick Collier, with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, during a news conference Thursday evening. “The good thing is someone’s mother and grandmother is coming home tonight.”
During the standoff, the woman, who has a history of mental illness, had a revolver in her hand, which she kept pointing at her head, Collier said.
Crisis negotiators were called in to talk her through the situation and were even able to build a rapport with the woman, Collier said. The woman’s daughter also arrived to the scene and was able to speak to her mother.
The incident began unfolding after the woman appears to have intentionally crashed into the back of an 18-wheeler in the southbound lanes of the interstate, Collier said. No one was hurt in the crash either, he said.
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During the ordeal, the Harris County Constable’s Office, released photos showing the woman sitting in a lawn chair in the middle of the highway and the large police response.
“The suspect refuses to comply with verbal commands and is refusing to drop the weapon,” the constable’s office said earlier in the day.
Emergency crews shut down the north- and southbound lanes of the highway amid the response, and traffic was diverted off the highway, which has since reopened.
ABC News’ Jack Moore contributed to this report.
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