Authorities say a registered sex offender wanted on a probation violation is dead after a nearly eight-hour barricade situation near the northwestern New Mexico city of Aztec.
San Juan County Sheriff's officials say 39-year-old Byron Boyd fatally shot himself Monday night inside a cinder-block outbuilding.
They sent a mechanical robot into the structure and confirmed that Boyd was down before deputies entered the structure.
Before that, Boyd reportedly fired several shots at SWAT team members but nobody was hit.
Sheriff's officials say Boyd somehow managed to cut off his ankle monitor. They got a tip that he was at a home near Aztec around 10:30 a.m. Monday and that's when the barricade situation started.
Authorities set up a perimeter and closed traffic in the area. Aztec is near Farmington.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.