LOWNDES Co. – A standoff between an armed man who was barricaded inside a home with two children ended Thursday morning when he surrendered to sheriff’s deputies without incident.

At approximately 10:35 a.m., the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call about man threatening to harm himself with a gun at home in the 4200 block of Hampton Drive, said LCSO Capt. Stryde Jones.

“A call came in from a third party that a resident at this Hampton Drive address had sent text messages threatening to harm himself. That, of course, initiated a call for a deputy to come out,” Jones said. “Our deputies responded, and when they arrived at the Hampton Drive address they found the person in the front yard, and he had a long gun with him.”

Deputies talked briefly with the man, who has not been identified, before he went back inside the house.

“Shortly thereafter, we learned that he had two children inside the home with him. That initiated our various protocols to deal with this type of incident with an armed, barricaded person,” Jones said. “Our initial attempts to make contact were unsuccessful, but eventually our negotiators were able to move into place and do some negotiations with him.”

After 15 to 20 minutes of negotiating with deputies, the man allowed the children to leave the house.

“Once the children were safely away from the house, we were able to continue negotiations, and he eventually came out,” Jones said. “Thank goodness nobody was injured. Everybody is safe.”

The man was taken to South Georgia Medical Center for evaluation.

Neighbors in the surrounding homes were evacuated during the incident.

“We are investigation and looking at the totality of the events to determine if charges are appropriate in this instance,” Jones said.