A City of Charleston police officer committed suicide Thursday morning during a standoff at his home, authorities said. Sgt. George Hildebidle, who had been on the force since 2003 and was married with two children, barricaded himself inside his Grand Oaks home following a 911 call at 7am. Officials said the officer's wife made the call, which was listed as a domestic dispute. Local police called in the Charleston County Sheriff's Department, the crisis negotiations team, SWAT, and bomb squads to assume responsibility of the situation 'because we did not want to have our own folks dealing with this since they worked with this individual on a daily basis', Charleston Police Chief Gregg Mullen told Live 5 News. Scene: Charleston Police Chief Gregg Mullen speaks with local media following death of one of his officers,  Sgt. George Hildebidle, inside his Grand Oaks home on Thursday morning . Closed: Officers evacuated some surrounding homes as they addressed the situation. The deceased, Sgt. George Hildebidle, had barricaded himself inside the home . Domestic: Police say the 911 call that came through around 7am was listed as a domestic dispute . The neighborhood surrounding Hildebidle's house was evacuated as negotiations started. Chief Mullen said they knew Hildebidle was armed. Hours later, just before 1pm, a decision was made to enter the home. Police said Hildebidle was alone inside the house at the time. The whereabouts of his wife are not known. Upon entering the house Hildebidle was found dead. Hildebidle was married with two children. Chief Mullen described the incident as a tragedy, but it is not believed to be linked to be linked to the case of Michael Slager, the white South Carolina police officer charged with murder for shooting an unarmed black man in the back. 'I think police officers all over the United States constantly experience high stress and what's going on right now has just elevated that, but this situation today I'm focusing on what's happening with members of my department and that's my priority now,' Mullen told Live 5 News. According to Mullen, at 12:17 pm, a SWAT team from the sheriff's office entered the home and found the individual deceased in the residence . '(Hildebidle) served this community well and unfortunately like many situations we deal with, this particular one, he chose to end the situation in his way. 'He was a great officer, I've worked with him for almost nine years and he was a great sergeant to this community. 'He's done wonderful things for not only the community, but for his co-workers and we're certainly going to miss him.'
Sgt. George Hildebidle barricaded himself inside his Grand Oaks home.
His wife called 911 about 7am.
Police surrounded the house and evacuated nearby properties.
Just before 1pm they entered and found Hildebidle dead.
He was described as a 'great sergeant' who did 'wonderful things'
Incident unrelated to the case of Michael Slager, the cop accused of murder.