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A man whom negotiators spent five hours Sunday trying to reason with was dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in West Valley City.

The 27-year-old man, who had reportedly taken his girlfriend hostage before releasing her safely within an hour and a half of when police arrived at the scene, holed up in the couple's apartment before police entered to find him dead Sunday night, according to a West Valley City police tweet.

The man and woman had been involved in a domestic incident at about 2 a.m. Sunday, police spokeswoman Roxeanne Vainuku said, but the girlfriend had left the home. The man wasn't arrested.

She returned to their apartment during the day, and another domestic incident ensued. Witnesses told Vainuku they heard "a couple of shots fired" and had seen the man with a gun.

The woman was still in the apartment when police and a SWAT team arrived earlier about 1 p.m., but they knew she was alive because they could hear her. The man threatened to shoot if police entered the apartment. Negotiators worked with the man for about an hour and a half to release his girlfriend .

Vainuku said the man had a minor criminal history with misdemeanors but "nothing significant."

Twitter: @mnoblenews