JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A man was "barricaded" inside a Downtown Jacksonville building for almost exactly five and a half hours Tuesday night, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
The man went inside a business on the fourth floor in the 300 block of Adams Street just before 6 p.m., "making threats," according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
He has now been identified as Lorenzo Cole, 49.
Gene Nichols, an attorney whose office is on the first floor, found out as soon as authorities were called to the scene. It was after hours for the business with only the cleaning crew inside, and the cleaning crew was able to evacuate, police say.
"They [the cleaning crew] encountered him [the suspect]," Nichols said. "He threatened them-said he was gonna blow up the building."
The doors to the office building on Julia and W. Adams St. are always locked. One cannot enter unless they know the passcode. Nichols said Cole must have 'piggybacked' his way inside.
JSO says Cole was rambling and it was difficult to tell if he was armed. SWAT was on scene attempting to get the man to exit throughout the night as several streets were closed during the incident. First Coast News was able to go on the fourth floor, where the busted windows are located. Nichols said it was a vacant law office. Inside were multiple footprints and shattered glass on the ground. The power was also shut off. After Tuesday's incident, Nichols suggested the owner of the building should hire a security guard.
"It was an unfortunate night, fortunately no one was hurt," Nichols added.
Police were trying to "let him come out and not push the issue," Lt. Mike Senterfitt with JSO said. "The last thing we wanna do is hurt anyone or get one of our folks hurt."
While talking to the press at 11:30 p.m., Senterfitt received a radio message that officers had the suspect in custody. He was not able to give more details because he was not involved in the arrest.