PORTLAND – A man identified as the prime suspect in the killing of Amy St. Laurent was arrested on a fugitive warrant in Alabama, where he surrendered after a four-hour standoff, police said Thursday.

Jeffrey Gorman, 21, was armed with a pair of guns that he pointed at his head at times, but he surrendered peacefully after four hours of discussions with hostage negotiators, said police Sgt. Benny Scarbrough in Troy, Ala.

Gorman was held Thursday at the city jail in Troy on a fugitive from justice charge in Maine, where he was wanted for a probation violation.

Maine officials will work to have him returned as soon as possible, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

In Maine, Gorman has been identified in court documents as the prime suspect in the killing of St. Laurent, who disappeared after a night out in Portland. Her body was found in a shallow grave last weekend in Scarborough.

A warrant was issued for Gorman’s arrest for probation violations on Tuesday, and Maine investigators thought Gorman may have fled to his native Alabama.

In Troy, Gorman’s hometown, police obtained paperwork necessary to arrest Gorman on the fugitive warrant and quickly tracked him down at a home Thursday.

Upon their arrival at 2:30 p.m., officers received consent to search the home and the occupants were removed from harm’s way. Gorman was inside with two firearms threatening to shoot himself, Scarbrough said.

A tactical team secured the neighborhood while hostage negotiators talked for four hours with Gorman, who was on the porch, Scarbrough said.

Eventually, Gorman dropped the weapon he was holding, walked down the steps and was taken into custody without incident, he said.

Gorman’s arrest is the latest development in the investigation into the killing of St. Laurent, 25, who was reported missing in late October after she left a Portland dance club with a couple of men she apparently knew.

Gorman lived in a house a short distance from where the body was found last weekend and police questioned him several times about St. Laurent’s disappearance before her body was found.

Gorman has lived in Greater Portland for the last couple of years. A year ago, he was arrested for breaking into a car in Westbrook. He pleaded guilty to theft and was sentenced to a year of probation.

In September, Gorman was arrested for driving with a suspended license and other violations. He was sentenced to serve 12 days in jail for violating his probation.

In November he again was charged with violating probation, this time for failing to notify his probation officer about five separate police interviews, failure to report a change of address and failure to report to probation officials.

Chitwood said the investigation continues in Maine.

“I expect to eventually charge somebody,” he said. “I can’t give you a time frame. The investigation is going along in a very methodical way.”