Congress Street was barricaded for a short time Wednesday night while law enforcement officials tried to take into custody a man — reportedly armed with a shotgun — who refused to come out of a Blaisdell Avenue home.
No injuries were reported, but there were at least three other people in the home with the man when police were dispatched.
As of late Wednesday, Bradford City Police had not released the man’s identity, nor had they said how the incident began.
At 8:54 p.m. Wednesday, police responded to the Blaisdell Avenue residence, where there was concern about a male with a shotgun in the home.
Initial reports indicated two small children were upstairs asleep at the time, along with a female. There were reports of people hearing possible gunshots around Congress Street, which runs perpendicular to Blaisdell Avenue.
Some reported details came across the police scanner as police from multiple departments made their way to the scene. The 911 dispatcher said he was trying to get the female to come outside with the children, and it was reported a short time later the three had emerged and were in the driveway.
Meanwhile, the male was still in the home — reportedly where he had access to multiple military-style rifles — and refusing to comply with requests to come outside.
The dispatcher said over the scanner that he took a call from the man — whose identity was not released as of press time — saying the man was “very agitated,” swearing and refusing a request by police that he leave through the back door.
Police reported they were evacuating nearby residents, as well.
By 9:32 p.m., police reported they had the man in custody, and by 9:39 p.m., police were reporting to the 911 Center that they were clear from the scene.
Era reporters who were at the scene provided more details on the incident. They reported seeing a police barricade at Thompson Avenue, two blocks from the standoff on Blaisdell. It was unclear what portion of Congress Street was barricaded south of Blaisdell, however.
A police officer from the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, who stood holding a rifle at the Thompson Avenue barricade, said he was uncertain if occupants of homes near the incident were asked to evacuate their residences, or instead instructed to go to a safe area of the home, such as a basement.
A resident, whose home was located several houses north of the Thompson Avenue barricade, stood on his Congress Street porch and said he had heard details of the incident on a scanner. When told that residents were being evacuated, the man replied, “I’m not leaving.”
After the suspect was led handcuffed from his home on Blaisdell Avenue and put in a Bradford City Police vehicle on Congress Street, he was heard screaming inside the closed vehicle. When an officer opened the door to speak to the suspect, the man screamed a couple of expletives at the police before bellowing, “Well get going!”
With that, an officer slammed the door shut and drove off with the individual handcuffed in the back seat of the vehicle.
Officers from Bradford City, Pitt-Bradford, Foster Township and Bradford Township were among the officials on scene. EMS was put on standby.
