Handyman Surrenders After Church Standoff : Incident: He holes up in office and threatens to shoot himself, but no gun is found. Children from nearby preschool are quickly relocated.

The Sheriff’s Department SWAT team evacuated 10 homes and hustled preschool children to an off-campus location Monday when a despondent man thought to have a shotgun barricaded himself in a church and threatened to take his life.

More than four hours after locking himself in the office of the Cornerstone Christian Church, Robert Emmett Nicholl, 36, of San Clemente, surrendered to the SWAT team without incident, Sheriff’s Lt. Dan Martini said.

No weapon was found in his possession, Martini said.

Nicholl, who authorities described as a handyman at the church, had been arrested by sheriff’s deputies Sunday night for allegedly being drunk in public. About 7 a.m. Monday, shortly after his release from custody, he went to the church at 702 Avenida de la Estrella, Martini said.

The church also houses the Cornerstone Christian Preschool, where about 40 students attend daily, according to its director. Other church officials declined to comment.

Nicholl, who had reportedly worked at the church for the past three months, managed to get inside the office, where he called several friends and told them of his intentions, Martini said.

The friends contacted officers, who cordoned off the small church and relocated the first group of children when they arrived at the preschool, Martini said.

“Whenever you have a situation like this, we must treat it as potentially dangerous,” Martini said. “We had a man in there who said he had a shotgun and who said he was going to kill himself.”

Before surrendering, Nicholl claimed to have been mistreated in Orange County Juvenile Hall 20 years ago and asked to talk to several county officials, including former county Supervisor Thomas F. Riley and members of the county Probation Department, Martini said.

A spokeswoman for Orange County Juvenile Hall said later Monday that all records of juveniles are sealed and not available to the public.

Two Probation Department officials came to the church and talked to Nicholl, who is not on probation in this county, said John Robinson, the county’s chief deputy probation officer.

“We were able to be of some assistance,” Robinson said, although he declined to give details. “Any time we are requested by law enforcement officials to help out, we do so.”

The standoff ended at 11:45 a.m. when Nicholl surrendered and was taken from the church in handcuffs by SWAT officers. Martini said Nicholl would be given a psychiatric evaluation and it is unlikely any criminal charges would be filed.