CHARLOTTE -- An armed robbery suspect was taken into custody around noon Friday following a standoff at a west Charlotte motel.

Police say the suspect was involved in an armed robbery earlier on Tuckaseegee Road and that several shots were fired in that incident. After a short police chase, the suspect ditched his car and went inside the Studio 6 Motel on Queen City Drive.

“We kind of anticipated that the suspect would be locked down in the hotel,” said Capt. Curt Voorhees with CMPD SWAT. “And when you have that type of situation with maybe mass evacuation and a dangerous suspect armed with a weapon, it's good to have SWAT on scene as soon as possible."

When police lost sight of him, they called in the SWAT team, who searched the hotel room-by-room and floor-by-floor. They also closed down nearby roads.

“As soon as I turned into the main corridor coming to the front, all I could see was a number of officers lining the corridor,” motel guest Robert Hood said describing the scene during the search. “And all you could see basically was their heads peering around the corner and one arm out with a gun in it.”

The suspect was located in one of the rooms. Police say the situation grew even more tense when they learned the suspect had three small children with him inside the motel room.

“After we contained him in that room, he ended up calling the office wanting to speak to an officer,” said Voorhees. “So he knew what was up.”

Police say the suspect wanted to make sure his kids were taken care of before giving himself up. At around noon, the suspect was taken into custody and taken to police headquarters. Police say no one was injured in either the armed robbery or the standoff.

CMPD says this is the 36th incident the SWAT team has been called to so far this year.