Man surrenders after hours-long SWAT standoff in Monongahela sparked by shots fired at police
MONONGAHELA, Pa. (KDKA) -- A man surrendered to law enforcement on Wednesday evening after an hours-long SWAT standoff in Monongahela that began with shots fired at police during a chase in the morning.
Authorities said 19-year-old Emmanuel Houghton, of Carnegie, surrendered to officers and was taken into custody, ending the ordeal.
Monongahela SWAT standoff begins
Police swarmed the area of Third and Chess streets not once but twice -- briefly leaving around 2 p.m. before coming back in the afternoon, drawing their guns and telling neighbors to stay inside. Police originally thought Houghton was in a different building and briefly cleared the scene only to return.
Pennsylvania State Police said it started when a car, one of two stolen overnight, drove away from local officers during a traffic stop Wednesday morning. Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh said he believes four shots were fired at a Monongahela police officer. No one was hit.
Officers briefly lost sight of the vehicle but found it abandoned off Third and Chess streets. Sources told KDKA-TV that the man ran inside a home, let the two people inside go, then barricaded himself.
SWAT started clearing the scene shortly before 2 p.m. but came back later. They asked residents to stay inside as they surrounded the home.
Around 6 p.m., Houghton was on Facebook Live responding to SWAT. He was on Facebook Live for more than one hour, threatening to shoot himself and officers.
He requested to speak to his mother, who arrived and started talking to him through a loudspeaker, begging him to come outside. At one point, SWAT threw tear gas inside, trying to get him out.
Houghton eventually surrendered around 7:30 p.m. He was removed from the building in handcuffs. He has prior charges of burglary, theft, assault and guns from three different cases.
"This individual who was barricaded in this house, I believe, has a warrant for a homicide out of Allegheny County," Walsh said.
Sources told KDKA-TV that Houghton is a person of interest in the shooting that killed 18-year-old Jordan Geiger.
Residents evacuated in Monongahela
A mom and her three kids -- ages 11, 7 and 13 -- had to evacuate earlier as police pointed guns towards their backyard.
"Mom was looking through the window as well and I was, like, kind of scared, because I feel like, like we did something bad or something," said John Escalante, one of the kids.