Texas hospital standoff: Distraught father surrenders after four hours

A man who barricaded himself at a hospital in north of Houston in the US state of Texas, after becoming distraught over his son's medical condition today surrendered peacefully after four hours, authorities said.

Police at first believed the man was holding hostages when they responded to the Tomball Regional Medical Center at 7pm, a 150-acre campus about 30 miles north of Houston.

The Harris County Sheriff's office later said it was not a hostage situation, and negotiators were trying to convince the man to leave his son's hospital room, which is in the hospital's critical care unit.

The man, who was not armed, surrendered at around 10:45 PM. His identity was not immediately released. Harris County sheriff's Lt. Joe Ambriz said the father became upset over his son's condition and made threatening comments, but Ambriz did not go into more detail.

Armed officers, state police and a SWAT team surrounded Tomball Regional Medical Center, resulting in a four-hour stand-off with the unidentified man. He gave himself up to police negotiators, who confirmed that he was unarmed when they took him in. He had sealed himself in the critical care unit, where his son was being treated.

Man was NOT armed. He's been taken into custody without further incident. Investigation still ongoing. #hounews

— HCSOTexas (@HCSOTexas) January 11, 2015

The Harris County Sheriff's office had earlier said they thought the man did have a gun - and that he had taken two hostages. Investigators are continuing to look into the situation, but the hospital has been taken out of lockdown.

The confrontation with officials began around 7pm. Officials said the man was 'distraught' but did no elaborate as to why.

Rooms next to the one where the man barricaded himself in were evacuated, but the majority of the hospital was not. Officers on the scene told reporters that they thought the man was armed - but it later emerged he did not have any kind of weapon.