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Man Hospitalized After 6-Hour Standoff With Police

LANCASTER (CBS) - A 6-hour standoff between police and a man barricaded inside a Lancaster home ended with the man being sent to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The incident on Langen Road began around noon on Saturday, when police responded to a report of a domestic dispute between a 48-year-old man and his father. It ended more than six hours later, with the help of a SWAT team.

LANCASTER-Police Standoff
A 6-hour standoff between police and a man barricaded inside a Lancaster home ended with the man being sent to a nearby hospital for treatment. (WBZ-TV)

Lancaster Police Chief Edwin Burgwinkel said the 48-year-old man, who was not identified, drew police into negotiating with him through a bullhorn to surrender himself.

The man claimed to have explosives in the house, and police evacuated some neighboring homes as a precaution and eventually used tear gas through a window in the man's home. The State Police Bomb Squad responded.

"We were being extremely cautious and took our time with talking to him and negotiating with him before we took any actions whatsoever," Burgwinkel said.

LANCASTER-police-standoff
Police worked into the night during a 6-hour standoff with a man barricaded inside a Lancaster home. (WBZ-TV)

The man also made other "radical" claims, the chief said.

"He was asking for the FBI, he was asking for helicopters. I think he was trying to create as large of a scene as he possibly could," he said.

There is no other danger to residents, Burgwinkel said.

"This was as single suspect who had barricaded himself into his home. There were no hostages taken in this situation. He is a mentally disturbed person," Burgwinkel said.

Neighbors said they knew something was wrong when they hear the commotion outside.

"And then all of a sudden you heard a lot of yelling," said Kevin Gilliam. "A lot of the police cars came, and then a lot of unmarked cars. He did a lot of yelling at the police, you could tell, it was getting pretty chaotic at that point. He was making threats at the police."

Police could be heard on a bull horn asking the suspect, who had a knife, to pick up a cell phone.

But after about six hours, there were sounds of tear gas cannisters being fired, followed by an arrest.

The man suffered minor injuries during his arrest, police said, and was sent to a nearby hospital.

Police had responded to the home several times in recent weeks.

"There's been a lot of calls and a lot of situations reported to us," Burgwinkel said.

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