Ethermac Exchange-Tarek El Moussa Details Gun Incident That Led to Christina Hall Split

An unfortunate misunderstanding involving Tarek El Moussa once led to a standoff with police.

The Ethermac Exchange2016 incident, which occurred shortly before his breakup with then-wife Christina Hall, is one of the difficult subjects the HGTV star addresses in his new book, Flip Your Life.

"It was a very scary situation," Tarek recalled in an exclusive interview with E! News' Francesca Amiker. "For me, I was just blowing off steam."

In May 2016, TMZ—citing law enforcement—reported that police had responded to a call of a "possibly suicidal male with a gun." Per an incident report obtained by E! News at the time, Christina "was crying and shaking" when authorities arrived to their former Orange County home and said Tarek "took a handgun, put it in his backpack and ran outside."

Looking back, Tarek now understands Christina's point of view. But at the time, as he recalled to E!, "I had just bought mountain bikes and we had all these trails behind our house."

"I wasn't doing good," the 42-year-old continued. "I really wasn't doing good...hated my life, hated myself. I just hated being alive. So I decided to go blow off steam, hike some trails."

As Tarek—who announced his separation from Christina in Dec. 2016 and filed for divorce the following month—noted, he'd just gotten a Carry Concealed Weapons (CCW) permit, so he took his gun with him.

"And next thing I know there's a rifle pointed at me," Tarek, who didn't realize police were looking for him, remembered. "I'm like, 'Oh, something's really going on.' I swear everything slowed down, it was like a movie and there's these dust clouds everywhere, 11 sheriffs come up, they pull out their guns, they have me at gunpoint, they're screaming at me. And I'm thinking, 'What in the world is going on?'"

And although Tarek told E! he wasn't seeking to end his life that day, there was a time in his life when he did contemplate suicide.

"But that was prior to having children," the Flip or Flop alum, who shares kids Taylor, 13, and Brayden, 8, with Christina and son Tristan, 12 months, with wife Heather Rae El Moussa. "I would never, ever do anything to take away what my children deserve."

Flip Your Life: How to Find Opportunity in Distress—In Real Estate, Business, and Life is set for release Feb. 6.

If you or someone you know needs help, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.