Early Friday morning Cape Elizabeth police were called to an apartment on Wells Road for what Chief Neil Williams described as a “domestic disturbance,” which ended in the death of one of the residents.

Williams said the official cause of death would be released by the Maine Medical Examiner’s Office sometime next week, but it appears the man died by suicide. He would not release the name of the victim before family members received notification.

Williams said the call to his department came in at about 12:19 a.m. with the caller stating he’d been in a fight with the other resident of the apartment and he was scared because the other man had a gun.

An officer arrived on scene and met the caller outside in the driveway to take his statement, Williams said. That’s when the officer heard two shots fired.

Williams said Southern Maine Regional SWAT was called in, which consists of police officers from Cape Elizabeth, South Portland and Scarborough.

When the special response team arrived on scene, it secured the perimeter and began trying to make contact with the other resident of the first-floor unit.

At about that time, police learned there was also someone living in the upstairs unit. Authorities were able to get that person to safety and after not being able to reach the man with the gun, the team sent in a specialized robot with a camera.

The robot searched the apartment and found the man dead on the floor. Paramedics were then allowed inside, but nothing could be done to help the man, Williams said.

He said the body was then released to the medical examiner’s office and authorities began trying to contact the deceased’s next of kin.

Williams praised the work of the special response team and said having the robot, which is owned by the South Portland Police Department, was “extremely helpful.”

First, according to Williams, the robot kept officers out of harm’s way and the use of the robot also helped authorities to determine fairly quickly what the situation was inside the apartment.

Williams said the whole incident lasted about 3 1?2 hours. Afterward, his department called in some specially trained trauma interventionists, who were assigned to assist the man who first called in the situation, as well as the upstairs tenant.