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Man with gun shut down Okeechobee Blvd.

Posted at 11:32 PM, Mar 16, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-16 23:32:00-04

A gunman on the run caused a major backup on Okeechobee Blvd., Friday.

Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputies arrested Micah Montgomery after a nearly three-hour standoff. 

Sheriff Rick Bradshaw told WPTV the situation started outside the Family Dollar Store on Haverhill Rd. and Okeechobee Blvd. 

Employees said they saw a man with a gun threatening a woman outside. When deputies showed up, the man took off running.

Deputies first confronted Micah Montgomery outside of the Family Dollar Store. They said he had a gun and when they tried to take him into custody he ran off causing several businesses in the area to lockdown.

"I see cop and car was driving and people were running and I have a lot of ladies running inside here," Suave Pham said.

Pham is owner of Elite Nails. He says while the gunman was outside he gave people shelter inside his salon.

"So many cars just travel back and forth and nobody can come out of here," he recalled. 

While the area went into complete chaos Suave says he stayed calm.

"I grew up in Compton, c'mon (laughs) that's reckless for me that's nothing," he said. 

Sheriff Bradshaw said Montgomery ran from the shopping center and ended up behind a parked car on 5500 block of Okeechobee. 

After a couple of hours they convinced him to put his gun down and they were able to take him into custody. But the situation left people in the area confused.

"I'm like what the heck can't get across," Kate said. 

Kate works at Abe's Laundry. She said her five-minute drive to work took 20 minutes.

"It's pretty appalling that somebody is running around waving guns around," she said. 

Sheriff Bradshaw says no one was hurt,  but business owners in the area agree the situation could have been a lot worse.

"People have guns everybody have guns you know now in the day people their temper nobody can control," Pham said. 

Investigators are working to figure out a motive.