ARMED STANDOFF ENDS
Man surrenders peacefully following domestic incident
RED HILL » A 37-year-old man was taken into custody Sunday evening and charged with assault and firearms violations after being involved in an armed standoff with police that closed Main Street for several hours.
Shawn Gratz was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, discharge of a firearm in an occupied structure and other related charges as a result of the incident, according to a release from state police at the Skippack station.
It began around 2:15 p.m. Sunday when state police were dispatch to a report of a domestic incident involving a firearm in the 400 block of Main Street.
A female told police that
Gratz had already fired two shots while in the residence, according to police.
When Gratz refused police commands to come out, the State Police Special Emergency Response Team was called to the scene.
Witnesses heard one state
trooper telling people to stay away from the house in the 400 block because the man inside was holed up with a rifle.
Main Street was closed from Third to Sixth streets and traffic was detoured on back alleys away from the scene.
Several people who had parked in the Key Bank parking lot that was next to the house, could not get to their cars as of Sunday night.
However, the VFW Post, across the street from the scene was allowed to stay open as long as its members didn’t venture up to Main Street, according to witnesses.
Eventually, “contact was made with the actor who was taken into custody,” according to a press release from state police, who declined to answer further questions about the incident. No injuries were reported. The investigation is continuing, according to state police.
Assisting on the scene were the Montgomery and Bucks county fire police, Marlborough Township Police, Upper Perk Police, East Greenville Police and New Hanover Township Police.