UPDATE: Hostage situation at PA firehouse ends
UPDATE
John Norris, the police chief in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania confirmed in a live press conference shortly after noon that the hostage situation at the La Mott Fire Company has ended. There were no injuries to the four volunteer firefighters who were held hostage.
FOX 29 News Philadelphia | WTXF-TV
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According to Chief Norris, the man arrested is 25-year-old Paul Jordan “a firefighter in dispute with the fire company up until yesterday”. Jordan was terminated Monday as a member of the fire company.
Police say Jordan was armed with a handgun when he entered the building this morning. Negotiators were able to get Jordan to give up without anyone being harmed. One shot had been fired into the wall.
The situation began shortly after 10:30 a.m. and ended a little more than an hour later.
Paul Jordan, 25, was taken into custody after a standoff situation at the LaMott Fire Company, No. 1 on Penrose Avenue in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, officials said.
After the shot, some people ran from the building but four others remained. Jordan, a former firefighter, almost immediately released one hostage before hunkering down with the other three, said police.
Jordan was a volunteer firefighter who’d been in an ongoing argument with the fire company that eventually led to his dismissal, said Norris. Investigators didn’t elaborate on the reason for the dismissal. Jordan also worked for the Salvation Army and Philadelphia Housing Authority.
A former firefighter is in police custody after taking several people hostage inside a firehouse in Montgomery County Tuesday morning.
The incident began at about 10:50 a.m. at the LaMott Fire Company No. 1 located at Penrose Avenue and Graham Lane in Elkins Park.
According to investigators, an unidentified former firefighter took three to five individuals hostage inside the building.
At about 11:50 p.m., the suspect was taken into police custody.
EARLIER
This is breaking in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania (Montgomery County).
An armed suspect is holding firefighters hostage inside a firehouse in Elkins Park.
It was around 10:55 a.m. when Cheltenham Police were called out to the Lamott Fire House at Penrose Avenue and Graham Lane in Cheltenham.
The police chief confirms to Action News that there is an armed subject inside of the firehouse holding fire fighters hostage.
Officers have entered the firehouse.
Chopper 6 was over the scene as police detained one man. However, it is unclear if that person is a suspect, or if more suspects remain inside.
According to investigators, an unidentified former firefighter took three to five individuals hostage inside the building.
At about 11:20 a.m., one of the hostages was released from the firehouse.
Investigators say several hostages still remain inside the firehouse.
