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Domestic incident leads to hourslong armed standoff in Newberry

By Philip Holmes 2 min read

UPDATE: The gunman has been taken into police custody.

An ongoing standoff that began late Sunday night with a gunman holed up in the city’s Newberry neighborhood, was entering its 12th hour, according to state police.

The house is on the north side of Newberry Street between Poplar and Diamond Streets.

The gunman is alone in the house, Lesher, the public information officer at the Troop F barracks, said.

Troopers assigned to the Special Emergency Response Team had been on the scene since about 8:30 am.

Negotiators have been in direct communication with the gunman for several hours, Lesher said.

As a precautionary measure, several nearby homes have been evacuated while other residents have been advised to shelter in place.

“This all started as a domestic situation,” Lesher said, adding that the female half was earlier safely removed from the house.

While this began as a city police incident, the situation has since been turned over to state police.

A few streets surrounding the house had been closed by police until the standoff ended.

A command post had been set up outside St. John’s- Newberry United Methodist Church whose upper parking lot was filled with more than a dozen unmarked state police cars.

Paramedics were standing by in an ambulance that was also in the lot.

All events Monday have been canceled at the church, and the West End Christian Community Center on nearby Diamond Street was closed for the day as a result of the standoff.

Neighbors saw what they called “trained snipers in army fatigues everywhere.”

They walked up Newberry Street and through yards and driveways, one neighbor said.

The 14-hour standoff ended about 1 p.m. without incident, Lesher confirmed.

No shots were fired and the gunman was taken into custody inside the house. He was evaluated by medical staff at the scene and then taken by ambulance for further evaluation at a hospital, Lesher said.

An arrest warrant was filed for the man and his arraignment was pending upon him being discharged from the hospital.

Lesher said she did not know what charges were filed since she had not yet seen the warrant.

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