Shooting suspect kills himself during SWAT negotiations, Tampa police say

A man suspected of shooting another person last week committed suicide after hours of SWAT negotiations, according to Tampa police.

Michael Shaheen, 28, was linked to a shooting around 3:45 a.m. Friday on the 1700 block of East Hillsborough Avenue, police said in a news release. The man who was shot, who police said was in his early 60s, was treated at a hospital for a gunshot wound to the chest and survived.

Police identified Shaheen as a suspect and obtained a warrant to search his 2007 Honda Accord.

Tuesday evening, officers were monitoring the Honda at Shaheen’s home on the 900 block of East 20th Avenue when Shaheen got into the car and drove away, the news release said. Shaheen “circled the block” before returning home, the news release said.

As he pulled into the driveway, officers tried to stop him so they could search the car.

“Shaheen refused to exit the vehicle after multiple commands to do so,” the news release said. The police SWAT team was called in to take Shaheen into custody “through negotiations and the use of less than lethal techniques.”

Shaheen barricaded himself in the car and after more than three hours of negotiations, he stopped communicating with officers, police said.

When members of the SWAT team approached the car, they found Shaheen with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, police said. He was taken to a local hospital, where he later died.

No further information was immediately released.