(WEHT) – Kentucky State Police say that an armed suspect took his own life after a 15-hour long standoff on the Natcher Bridge.

According to police, it all started around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday when a woman in Hatfield called Spencer County dispatch saying someone was trespassing in her yard near her barn. The Sheriff Deputy arrived on scene and said he saw two suspects speed away through the woman’s yard.

Police say a woman was driving initially, but she pulled over and exited the vehicle, letting the male passenger drive off. The male suspect refused to stop and led police on a chase down Highway 66 heading east. An officer from Rockport deployed stop sticks near State Route 66 and County Road 350 West. The driver was able to drive through the stop sticks but the vehicle became disabled near the Natcher bridge.

The suspect ran to the middle of the bridge and aimed a firearm at police, starting the day’s long standoff as police tried to talk him down.

“We continued that dialogue for many hours, sometimes we were able to communicate with him, other times we were not,” said Kentucky State Trooper Corey King. “We were able to get our special response team in with what’s called a ‘bearcat’, it’s an armored-plated vehicle, so we were able to get really close to him to continue that rapport. That’s what we were hoping for. The longer we see this being dragged out, we were hopeful that maybe it would come to a better ending.”

The standoff continued throughout the morning and into the afternoon. Trooper Corey King tweeted in the early evening that the standoff had concluded and that the suspect took his own life. US 231 across the Natcher Bridge was opened back up around 5:30 p.m.

KSP has not released the name of the suspect and the incident is still under further investigation.