An eviction notice turned into an hours-long shooting standoff Wednesday in Pittsburgh after a man shot the city’s deputy sheriff.
The Allegheny Police Office said deputies went to serve the notice in the city’s Garfield neighborhood when the man “turned violent and began shooting.”
Pittsburgh Public Safety said the man was declared dead at 5:08 p.m. — six hours after the confrontation began. Officials did not identify the suspect to reporters.
Pittsburgh Police Chief Larry Cerutto said Wednesday that authorities believe the suspect was killed in a gun battle with law enforcement.
“The schedule has been set because we don’t rush to judgment,” said Ciroto. “We want a peaceful end, surrender in this case. We use different methods to achieve that surrender… With every opportunity to surrender, we were met with gunfire.”
Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin Krause said the suspect “immediately opened fire” on deputies when they called him Wednesday morning. The department has received support from other agencies, including the SWAT team.
Al-Sharif said he could not count the number of “shots” fired between the suspect and the officers.
“I mean, he had a lot of ammo in that house, sure…we were all on ammo constraints and we were asking for extra ammo but,” Krause said. “Like I said, we tried to give him every chance to get out. But it was just the SWAT response.”
A heavy police presence dominated the area, and gunfire was heard intermittently for hours. Pittsburgh Public Safety said officers evacuated people from homes in the area.
The sheriff’s office said one of the two sergeants sustained minor “non-shooting” injuries while avoiding gunfire. No other injuries were reported.
The man holed up inside shot down two law enforcement drones during the confrontation. NBC affiliate WPXI reported.
Witness Leslie Thompson told WXPI that she hid in her basement for about an hour while the shooting took place across the street. She was reunited with her husband after she called 911 and the police removed her to safety.
“They just knocked on the door, and the police came in and told me they were going to get me out,” Thompson said, sobbing as her husband embraced her.
The Pennsylvania State Police said its agency is handling the investigation from local authorities.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
