UPDATED: 1:50 a.m.
Warminster police are evacuating an apartment complex and nearby residents while a standoff with an alleged gunman continues.
Police were called to the Jefferson on the Creek apartment complex, 675 E. Street Rd., Warminster, for a domestic disturbance at about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and "were met with gufire," according to Warminster Police Chief Mike Murphy.
The police and the gunman had a "firefight for a short period of time" before the man barricaded himself and his common law wife inside the apartment, Murphy said. The woman eventually got out of the apartment and is being interviewed by police.
No police officers have been injured so far, Murphy said. "We're settling in for what we feel is going to be a prolonged incident ... it's going to be a cold long night."
The alleged gunman is holed up in an apartment, reportedly with a 12-gauge shotgun. He may have other guns as well, according to emergency radio communications. Those reports have not yet been confirmed.
Residents of the complex initially reported being asked to remain in their homes during the incident. But those trying to get into the complex were unable to return.
The Red Cross set up a reception station at William Tennent High School, where communications director Dave Schrader said those displaced by the standoff could warm up and get a bite to eat.
The incident drew police personnell from miles around. Sirens screamed and lights blazed as police cars and tactical response teams from across Bucks County raced to Warminster in response to the incident, which began around 8 p.m.
Police closed down Street Road at the Davisville Road and at Reeves Lane and rerouted traffic off of Street Road and up Davisville.
The nearby Davisville Shopping Center has been cleared and police have secured the perimeter.
More than a dozen police units are lined up along Davisville Road, blocking the entrance to the shopping center, which is next to the apartment complex. Police from nearly every Central and Lower Bucks municipality, including Doylestown, Bensalem, Lower Southampton and Upper Southampton, are assisting on the scene.
The Central Bucks County major incident response team, called SWAT by some, drove its Lenco Bearcat to the scene. The Bearcat, which is stored in Doylestown, also was used during a standoff in Doylestown Township on Father's Day with an armed gunman.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Every neighborhood us just like Kensington or North Philly as this craziness happens everywhere, no neighborhood is exempt. If they would require all boys to go into the service, right out of high school, we would have more real men and a lot of these issues would be eliminated. Great job Officers and I hope no one was hurt or killed, except the subject of course. Save our tax dollars.
Good job Warminster Police! When will they have their awards ceremony?
We don't need "massive mental health laws", we need to assure those confined in any mental health facility are not abused and are receiving proper treatment. When abuses occur, treat the abuser for what they are, a criminal who preys on the weak. Make sure the meesage is loud and clear, make the penalty so harsh as to cause anyone to recoil at the notion of engaging in a criminal manner. This concept works for violent criminals too. Make the penalty so terrible the idea of the crime itself is abhorant. No plea deals, no time off, and decades instead of years.
You "assure me" eh? Go ahead, assure me, prove my instablity. If it's the guns then I'm going to say it's the cars. So the next drunk should simply blame the car and go on their merry way. It's is exactly what your theory on firearms is saying. "Most people who own them have no business owning them" Really?? Just how many owners do you know? I know hundreds. I'll let them watch my kids before I'd let you or anyone else without a weapon. They can borrow my car, dance with my wife, and stand next to me at the range.
Only 5? I hope at least one of them is an EBR.