Port St. Lucie - Wednesday June 19, 2024: A man was found dead inside a U-Haul van in the parking lot of a Port St. Lucie shopping mall in the Tradition neighborhood this afternoon.
That followed a tense stand-off between police, and the man, that began at 2 PM this afternoon.
The man, who has been identified as 33-year-old Christopher Pringle of Atascosa Texas, was said to be armed. He had barricaded himself inside the van at Landings at Tradition.
The PSLPD SWAT team was called in, the van was surrounded by police, a crisis negotiator attempted to convince the Pringle to come out, but to no avail.
Eventually police deployed chemical agents and used flash bangs. Shortly before 4 PM Pringle was found dead inside the van, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Earlier, Pringle war said to be a missing, endangered person, from Boca Raton.