Police: Loaded gun found in Bridgeport home after standoff
BRIDGEPORT — A woman is facing more charges after a police say they found a loaded handgun in the basement of the home where she had been hiding while in a standoff with authorities on Thursday.
Nilah Bowie, 21, was previously charged with risk of injury to a minor, disorderly conduct, interfering with a police officer and first-degree reckless endangerment following the standoff in the 600 block of William Street.
Bridgeport police said they executed a search warrant of the home and found a loaded Walther 9mm handgun “in the basement where the suspect had been barricaded prior to being taken into custody.”
Bowie was then charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm and unsafe storage of a firearm, police said. Her bond was increased to $250,000.
The incident began around 10:30 a.m. Thursday when the city’s emergency operations center received a call for shots fired on William Street, police said.
“Early information indicated a female subject shot a firearm from the third floor window of a multifamily home within the 600 block of William Street,” Capt. Kevin Gilleran wrote in a news release Thursday. “Uniformed patrol officers arrived, identified the multifamily home on William Street, and began to evacuate innocent citizens residing in the area.”
Police then established a perimeter while the city’s SWAT team responded along with crisis negotiators.
“Negotiators determined there were still innocent citizens that remained inside the dwelling,” Gilleran said.
The SWAT team then entered the home through the first floor, locating three uninjured people inside. Bowie was found hiding in the basement was taken into custody without further incident, Gilleran said.
She was taken to the hospital for “superficial lacerations sustained prior to police contact,” Gilleran said. She was released and taken to the police department where she was charged.
Police said SWAT swept the home “for any possible victims and/or additional dangerous subjects” during the incident, but “none were found.”