Standoff in York

An alleged home invasion brought police to the 300 block of South Queen Street late Thursday night.

By RICK LEE and MICHELE CANTY
Daily Record/Sunday News
Friday, January 7, 2005

Members of the York County Quick Response Team surrounded a house in the 300 block of South Queen Street in York where police believed armed men were hiding Thursday night, said York County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Bill Graff.

Police closed several nearby blocks to traffic as they tried to get the men to come out. At 11:20 p.m., one of the men was in custody, according to police. Officers were still searching for others.

The standoff started around 8 p.m. after two men allegedly hid out in a row house at 316 S. Queen St. while trying to get away from police. Graff said the men were suspects in a home invasion at a nearby house, 318 S. Queen St.

City officers were called out to 318 S. Queen St., on reports that armed men were trying to force their way into a home. When the officers peered through a window, they saw two men with guns inside, Graff said.

“They popped the door,” Graff said of the police officers, and when they went inside the house, the armed men ran out a back door.

The officers charged after them. Two shots were fired toward the officers, Graff said. The officers weren’t hit and didn’t return fire, he added.

The armed men went into the house next door at 316 S. Queen St. Authorities cordoned off the area around the house and surrounding area with yellow police tape, Graff said. Police thought one of the men was on the roof, he said.

Police also began evacuating those in neighboring houses, Graff said.

South Queen Street residents huddled together on their porches in the cold, looking in the direction of the flashing police lights on the next block. Those who walked into the area police had blocked off asked, “What’s going on?”

No one really knew. They had heard it was something about some men with guns in one of the vacant houses.

Drivers of vehicles that pulled up to the intersection were told to turn around. They couldn’t go down East College Avenue or South Queen Street, police told them. They had to take another route.

Shortly before 11 p.m., police yelled commands into a bull horn in English and Spanish, telling the armed men to put their guns down and come out of the row house with their hands up.

About 20 minutes later, officers had one man in custody. At 11:30 p.m., police continued to look for at least one more armed man.

Reach Rick Lee at 771-2000 or rlee@ydr.com. Reach Michele Canty at 771-2028 or mcanty@ydr.com.