Police Standoff Ends Peacefully in Grand Prairie

A police standoff in Grand Prairie ended peacefully Thursday after four hours of police negotiating with 33-year-old Jose Silva of Grand Prairie.

Police were told Silva was possibly armed with a gun inside his car after a traffic stop, and they feared he would turn it on himself.

They were able to force him out of the car by firing several canisters filled with a nonlethal amount of chemicals at the car, which is used to make people feel nauseous.

Grand Prairie police said Silva became upset after a breakup with his girlfriend. She called police and told them he made suicidal comments to her and might have a gun. Silva's girlfriend lives in Mansfield and first called them about her concern for Silva, who is a resident of Grand Prairie. A welfare check was conducted by the Grand Prairie Police Department, but nothing at the time indicated Silva would harm himself.

Later in the day Thursday, a Grand Prairie police officer clocked Silva driving more than 100 mph on Pioneer Parkway. Silva was pulled over at the intersection of Great Southwest and Pioneer Parkway. That's when the officer realized that Silva was the same person who might be suicidal and armed with a gun.

Silva did not cooperate with police and additional backup was called to the scene, including a negotiating team, police said.

"Well, we want this to end peacefully. That's the bottom line," said Grand Prairie Detective Lyle Gensler. "This is a perfect example as to why we wait that long [four hours]. If we wait it out long enough, it's going to end that way. We don't want to jump to conclusions. We don't want to go in and rush the vehicle. We want to give him enough time to decide what he wants to do."

Grand Prairie police were assisted by Arlington and Mansfield police. A section of Great Southwest Parkway was closed in both directions on the north side of the intersection at Pioneer Parkway.