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Meet the MSP trooper who talked down a barricaded gunman on I-75

Posted at 3:35 PM, Aug 11, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-11 16:18:56-04

After a suicidal man led police on a chase from Pontiac to Monroe and shut down I-75 in the process, we are learning the role a hostage negotiator played to peacefully end the stand off.

Juan Colon, 37, was on Facebook Live holding a gun, threatening to commit suicide. Someone watching called 911 to do a welfare check. They found him in his car, and that's when he took off.

"As a state trooper, we come in and we solved the problem and it's a whole mental mind change," Michigan State Trooper Siera Hammond said.

Hammond is responsible for talking to Colon for hours as he threatened suicide.

"It's a different way of taking to people a different way of listening to people and time," she said. "Being patient. Being really patient."

She says staying in a bubble helps her keep her eyes on the goal and getting this person out of the situation alive.

"You got to hear what they are trying to say to you and not jump to conclusions," she added. "Understanding what someone else is trying to say and listening. Empathy and listening go hand in hand."

Colon is now in the Monroe County Jail, facing four felony charges with a bond set at $250,000.