Police standoff ends peacefully

A former Russellville police officer was taken into custody Monday night after a three-hour standoff with authorities.

According to Russellville Police Chief Chris Hargett, officers were dispatched at 6:15 p.m. to the home of Robert Earl Saint, 43, 196 Ash Ave., Russellville, after a call came in that Saint was threatening to harm himself and could possibly harm others.

When officers arrived on the scene and made contact with Saint outside his residence, they observed he was armed with a .12 gauge shotgun.

Hargett said Saint went back inside his residence and refused to put down his gun or to come outside, so the Franklin County Special Response Team (SRT) was activated because of their training in similar situations.

At that time, authorities also evacuated the surrounding residences and the Russellville Park and Recreation Center as a precautionary measure, which Hargett said was in the best interest of the safety of the people in the area.

Hargett said the SRT set up communications with Saint in an effort to get him to surrender to authorities.

After more than three hours of negotiations, officers were able to take Saint into custody without incident at 9:45 p.m.

Saint, who left the RPD in 2004 for health reasons, was transferred to Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital in Florence for evaluation.