No injuries after 12-hour Lakeland standoff

LAKELAND (FOX 13) - A 12-hour standoff ended Friday morning with a 48-year-old man in custody in Lakeland.

The standoff happened at a home near the intersection of New Jersey Road and Sylvester Rd. According to Lakeland police, two brothers had a disagreement and one threatened or struck the other with a baseball bat Thursday.

Police swarmed the area, and a SWAT standoff followed.  The negotiator tried to communicate with the man -- now identified as Guerry (Jason) Wardell -- for hours.  Lakeland Police Sgt. Gary Gross described Wardell as someone who had previous contact with law enforcement and experienced "issues with mental illness in the past."

During the SWAT situation, Lakeland police received information about weapons in the home. Officers blocked a section of New Jersey Road and encouraged drivers to seek alternative routes. No homes required evacuation.

Officers even tried to use a state fire marshal robot to get a peek inside the home, but the machine didn't end up helping and negotiations stretched into Friday morning.

Finally, police fired multiple rounds of tear gas into the home before storming inside. Officers found Wardell hiding inside a second-floor closet and took him into custody.

No one was hurt.