Police block downtown Dothan after officer-involved shooting, standoff continues

A large section of downtown Dothan was blocked off Sunday night after officers say a man with a firearm threatened people at a nearby apartment complex, then fired from a home in the 100 block of East Lafayette Street near Vaughn Towers. Police said officers first spoke with witnesses, then moved to the address just after 7 p.m., where shots were fired from inside the house and officers returned fire before the suspect barricaded himself inside.

Police set up a perimeter, called in the Special Response Team and crisis negotiators, and spent more than an hour trying to get the man to surrender. During the standoff, officers said more rounds were fired at police on scene, but no officers were injured. The shutdown kept a large, several-block stretch of downtown under police control while the scene was secured late into the night.

The suspect was shot by law enforcement on scene, taken to a local hospital, and later pronounced dead. Dothan police identified him Monday as Antonia Christopher King, 45, of Dothan. WDHN reported that Houston County Coroner Robert Byrd said King died at 11:50 p.m. at Southeast Health with multiple gunshot wounds. The Alabama State Bureau of Investigation is handling the case, as required under state law for officer-involved shootings.

The first police release said officers were directed to the East Lafayette Street residence after speaking with witnesses, but it did not say whether body-camera footage will be part of the public record or when the state inquiry is expected to be complete. Chief William E. Benny said further questions should go to the Alabama SBI, leaving the next public accounting of the shooting in state hands.