A SWAT situation unfolded early Thursday just blocks from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, with officers surrounding an apartment after someone inside refused to come out. The standoff began around 6 a.m. on South College Avenue, and as of the latest reporting, no injuries had been reported.
According to Fox19, SWAT officers surrounded an apartment in the 600 block of South College Avenue after the person inside would not exit. The outlet reported that the incident started as a 911 call from someone seeking police assistance, and that the caller was not in the apartment at the time of its report. SWAT officers were actively negotiating with the person still inside and trying to coax that person out, the station reported.
The apartment sits a few blocks west of Miami University's campus, according to WKRC, which reported Thursday morning that authorities had not yet released additional details on the situation. The limited information left residents in the area with little more than the knowledge that police had the building surrounded while negotiations continued.
A Separate Standoff Ended in Arrest
Separately, Local12 and WCPO each reported on an hours-long SWAT standoff at an Oxford apartment on West High Street that ended with an arrest, though it is not established whether that incident is connected to Thursday's South College Avenue situation. Per Local12, a woman reported that her ex-boyfriend, identified as Harrison Hooks, had come into her High Street apartment without her knowledge, and that he deadbolted the door and barricaded himself inside when officers tried to make contact.
WCPO reported that officers responded to the West High Street apartment around 5:30 p.m. after a woman said her ex-boyfriend was trespassing and had entered her apartment without her knowledge, and that the man barricaded himself inside and refused to negotiate with officers at the door. Crisis negotiators were brought in, and Miami University and Oxford Township police blocked off the area, the report states.
Both accounts describe the same escalation from there. Local12 reported that the SWAT team used gas and a police dog to get the man into custody, while WCPO reported that the suspect refused to surrender, did not comply after gas was deployed, and was taken into custody around 9:30 p.m. after a Butler County Sheriff's Office K9 was deployed.
Hospital Treatment and Pending Charges
Local12 reported that Hooks was taken to a hospital for dog-bite injuries and exposure to gas before being booked into the Butler County jail, and that he faces burglary and obstruction charges. The outlet also reported that Hooks had been released from prison on April 4 after serving a sentence for burglary and was on parole at the time of the incident.
WCPO's account similarly described the man being taken to McCullough Hyde Hospital for exposure to gas and dog-bite injuries. That station identified the man as 36 years old, recently released from prison and on parole, and reported that charges remained pending at the time of its report.
Regional SWAT Team's Role
Both West High Street accounts noted that Butler County Regional SWAT responded alongside Miami University and Oxford Township police.
The South College Avenue area has seen SWAT activity before. Last May, the Oxford Police Department SWAT team raided a house at 215 S. College Ave. known locally as “Dirty South,” according to The Miami Student. That raid, tied to a months-long investigation, led to four men being detained for questioning after officers executed a search warrant and seized cocaine, electronics and other paraphernalia, with one man later charged in connection with more than 27 grams of cocaine. Thursday's situation remains distinct from that case, and authorities had not released further details on the South College Avenue incident as of the latest update.
