Sheriff: Truck driver with machete in interstate standoff

GAUTIER, Miss. (AP) – Authorities say a standoff between a truck driver with a machete and police officers has brought traffic to a stop on a section of Interstate 10 in Mississippi.

Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell told news outlets the 18-wheeler is on the shoulder of the westbound corridor in southern Mississippi.

Ezell says the truck driver has a machete and that there was some kind of road rage incident involving another truck driver.

Marcia Hill with the sheriff’s office says the driver in the standoff had been operating the rig recklessly on the interstate in Alabama and deputies were able to stop the vehicle after it entered Mississippi.

Mississippi Highway Patrol Master Sgt. Chase Elkins says Interstate 10 is closed on one section.

No injuries have been reported.

UPDATE: 2:55 p.m.

A standoff has ended between Mississippi authorities and a truck driver armed with a machete.

News outlets report officers used tear gas to get the suspect out of the truck. Information has not been released on the charges he will face.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol says there were no injuries.

The interstate is back open.

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