After 6 hours, Carmel police leave scene where firefighters reported armed person
CARMEL, Ind. (WISH) — After Carmel police spent more than six hours outside a townhome trying to negotiate with a reported armed person, crews were leaving the area Sunday night.
Carmel Fire Department around 2:20 p.m. responded to a condo fire in the 300 block of Brownstone Trace, just off Guilford Road between 116th Street and Carmel Drive, according to a post on social media.
According to the fire department, Carmel police had fire crews stand by and advised “someone on scene with a shotgun.”
The intersections of Guilford Road and Carmel Drive and Guilford Road and 116th Street were closed at 3:30 p.m. and reopened sometime after 7 p.m.
According to Lt. James Semester with Carmel police, neighbors called 911 after seeing smoke coming out of the window of one of the townhomes. When the fire department showed up, they quickly called for the police department.
By this time, the fire was put out by the resident without the aid of firefighters. Carmel police had dealt with the person who lives in the townhome before, Semester said. He said the person was locked inside and not responding to a negotiator.
Around 8:30 p.m., Semester said police had still not been able to make contact with the person inside and said, “We don’t have any criminal charges on the resident so there is no legal justification for us to come into the house. We have to respect the constitutional rights of everyone and we have to protect our citizens from unreasonable search and seizure.”
Semester said police had indirect confirmation that the person inside had been talking to some other people and “simply not talking to police is not reason for us to continue to investigate.”
Police were leaving the scene but said they would leave some crews in the area not because they believe there is a danger but so that people feel safe, Semester said.
Semester said there had been a shotgun visible, but there was no reason to believe there was any display of a shotgun in a threatening manner.
