Man arrested after Monongahela SWAT standoff possible suspect in killing of 18-year-old: sources
MONONGAHELA, Pa. (KDKA) — Emmanuel Houghton is at the Washington County Prison after an hours-long standoff in Monongahela on Wednesday.
According to online records, his bail was denied due to the seriousness of the charges and the threat to public safety.
Houghton faces a list of charges, including attempted homicide, aggravated assault, receiving stolen property, possession of firearms and fleeing/eluding officers.
Houghton is accused of stealing a car and sending police on a chase. During the incident, Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh said he allegedly fired at least four shots at officers before nearly crashing into one of their cruisers.
The chase went through Washington and Allegheny counties before Houghton took off on foot near Third and Chess streets in Monongahela.
"I was walking down the street, cop stopped me, told me there was an armed shooter. They were chasing him," witness Ronald Dalesandry said.
Dalesandry said he watched Houghton run into a brown building, where the standoff in the area began.
"I walked by and I saw between the building, (the) guy was jumping the railing, banging on the downstairs doors, and then running upstairs and going into the building," Dalesandry said.
For hours, SWAT teams and police surrounded a home near the brown building Dalesandry said Houghton was in. Before clearing the scene, KDKA-TV witnessed police go into the brown building with shields and guns drawn. They cleared the scene shortly after.
"If you got a building surrounded with everyone in law enforcement, there should not be any reason for a man to disappear and get out of there. And I told him, I said, he's still in the building," another witness said.
The witness didn't want to be identified or go on camera, but he told KDKA-TV he believed Houghton was inside the brown building the entire time and questioned how the police didn't find him when they searched.
"Go inside and go from top the bottom and look that over thoroughly. Even in every closet and every coverage that you can find, or any secret passageways," the man said.
According to police paperwork, a woman called 911 from the building after crews cleared the scene and reported that a man "just came out of the attic" and was "covered in dirt, holding two handguns."
The woman identified the man as Houghton and said he asked her for a vape. That's when the second standoff began, including Houghton going on Facebook Live for over an hour. During the video, Houghton showed multiple firearms and ammo he had with him inside the building.
He also threatened to take his own life and the lives of the police.
"He had a backpack on him. So more likely, (firearms) were all in there. And like I said, I seen his live stream last night, and he was showing off his guns and how much ammo he had," Dalesandry said.
Walsh told KDKA-TV that it's unclear if Houghton was in the building the entire time, but he did confirm Houghton was in a crawl space in the attic at some point. Houghton eventually surrendered peacefully.
The DA could not comment when asked if officials were looking into any other suspects or how Houghton managed to steal two cars by himself. The DA said the investigation is ongoing.
According to sources, Houghton is being investigated as a possible suspect in a homicide in Allegheny County. Houghton also has a lengthy criminal history out of Allegheny County, including simple assault, burglary and theft.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for this case on Aug. 28.