A father has killed himself after holding his young daughter hostage following an argument with his estranged wife while on probation for domestic violence.
Gary Cauley
A 39-year-old man idenified as Gary Cauley, has taken his own life after holding his 6-year-old daughter hostage during a 25-hour police standoff, as his estranged wife, sister, friends, and dozens of police officers waited for him to come outside.
According to
Dailymail UK, Cauley released his daughter, Rylan, to deputies just 20 minutes before shooting himself on Sunday afternoon.
It was gathered that trouble had begun at 4am on Saturday, when Cauley arrived at the home of his estranged wife, Amie, and the couple got into a fight.
Cauley and Amie argued 'all through the morning about a variety of domestic issues', Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a press conference on Sunday.
On Saturday afternoon, Rylan told her father that she and Amie, 36, were supposed to go to the beach that day.
When Cauley found out they were going to go with a man he did not like, he told Amie 'you're not taking Rylan' and went into the garage to retrieve a handgun.
Cauley's estranged wife, Amie pictured with their daughter
Amie did not know that Cauley, who was on probation for felony domestic violence, had a firearm in the house, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Cauley then threatened to kill himself and refused to let Rylan leave with her mother.
Amie called 911 and met with deputies outside the home while Cauley and Rylan stayed inside. The standoff had begun.
The neighborhood had to be evacuated as armed deputies covered the streets and rooftops, according to WFTV.
Cauley took Rylan to a bedroom closet and barricaded them inside as crisis negotiators pleaded with him to release the young girl.
Judd said that although Cauley repeatedly said he would let Rylan go, he 'played games' and 'lied to us'.
Rylan told police that throughout the standoff her father was afraid, shaking, and said he would kill himself.
Cauley finally agreed to let Rylan out of the house on Sunday and she walked out at 1.20pm.
Rylan revealed to police that the last thing her father told her was that she shouldn't be afraid and that she needed to go to the officers.
'Then he told Rylan, "And then I'm going to kill myself,"' Judd said.
Crisis negotiators continued to speak to Cauley and sent in a robot, which made a hole in the closet where he had barricaded himself.
At 1.55pm authorities sent 'chemical agents' into the home through the windows to try and get Cauley to come out of the house, according to The Ledger.
Cauley came to the front window with the gun pointed at his head. He then put it in his mouth before pointing it at his chest.
Negotiators pleaded with Cauley to put the gun down and come out of the house as police pumped more chemical agents into the home.
Cauley then left the window and exited the room. He shot himself dead just after 2pm, 25 hours after the standoff began.
He was declared dead at the scene. 'The good news is that we were able to get that beautiful six-year-old girl safely,' Judd said during a press conference after the standoff.
'She's alive and she's well. The sad news is that he told us the truth, "I'm going to commit suicide". He had been telling us that since yesterday, and that's exactly what he did.'