Residents of the City of Washington can breathe a little easier after authorities lifted a shelter-in-place order early this morning. The precaution was put into place late last evening in response to a "police incident" with significant law enforcement activity on the 700 block of E Maiden Street. According to a report by WPXI, the Washington County Department of Public Safety asked the community to not only stay clear of the area but to also secure their homes by locking doors and windows and to turn off any HVAC systems due to police deploying mild irritants into a residence.
It wasn't until just before the early hours of morning that the department announced the situation was under control, although they noted that police units would still remain in the vicinity to "conducting their investigation", as detailed by WPXI. A suspect was reportedly taken into custody around 2 a.m., as mentioned by the City of Washington Police Department, with no additional information about the incident immediately made available.
The standoff, which stemmed into the waking hours of Saturday, involved negotiators using a megaphone to communicate with an individual inside the house, as WTAE reports. The Washington City Police lead the investigation with SWAT officers on location.
