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Barricaded gunman incident in Tioga County ends peacefully

ROSEVILLE — A four-hour standoff with a gunman ended peacefully on July 1 in Rutland Township, Tioga County.

Armed with a Mossburg Shotgun, Justin Scott Winnie, 29, allegedly threatened harm to himself and officers before his arrest.

Several hours before the incident, Vernon Winnie, his father who lives seperately, called emergency services at 5:20 p.m. to report that he received a call from his son threatening to harm himself.

Justin Winnie lives with his mother, Sue Gleason, and has been on house arrest for several weeks following two DUI charges.

Soon after calling his father, Justin Winnie left his mother’s home to retrieve guns from an unknown location. When he returned with the weapons, he asked Gleason to go to Vernon Winnie’s home to obtain his AR magazine kept there.

A few minutes after she arrived at Vernon Winnie’s home and notified him of the situation with their son, Justine Winnie also arrived.

He was “vary distraught,” said the affidavit. “Justine Winnie told him to stay out of his way and that he doesn’t want to shoot or hurt him but would if he had to.”

Justin Winnie then fired several bullets past Vernon Winnie, the bullets nearly striking him before sinking themselves into the surrounding forest.

Gleason allegedly said to police that she was then forced into Justine Winnie’s vehicle to get gas near the New York state line. While he was pumping gas, Gleason took the pistol he was reloading and threw it out of the car window before grabbing the other firearm and exiting the vehicle.

Leaving his mother and the guns she removed, Justin Winnie called his probation officer.

“(He) informed her that he wanted to talk to his daughter so that he could shoot himself,” said court documents.

State police located Justin Winnie’s black 2017 Mitsubishi at his mother residence and established a perimeter.

“While still on the phone with (his probation officer,) Winnie informed her that he knew PSP was on the scene and he would shoot anyone who came up the driveway or attempted to come get him and that he does have weapons inside,” said the affidavit.

Continuing his threats at 9:41, Justin Winnie allegedly said, “I can see Pennsylvania State Police and I am going to shoot as many people that I can as well as myself if I have to.”

By 10:39, however, law enforcement sucessfully talked him into standing down. He cooperated with police and was taken into custody by state police and SERT.

Justin Winnie was charged with terroristic threats, simple assault, reckless endangerment of another person and criminal mischief.

He was denied bail at his arraignment with District Magistrate Tiffany Cummings in Mansfield, with her ruling citing the danger he poses to both himself and others.

Justin Winnie is currently held at the correctional facility in Wellsboro.

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