Man with guns shoots at police in standoff. Was mad at a local Newspaper

[internet troll]

http://www.delcotimes.com/general-ne...with-newspaper

Sounds like this guy had a lot of issues. Sounds like the cops remained level headed and did their best to apprehend the guy without shooting anyone.

UPPER DARBY >> After ducking bullets fired by 80-year-old Joseph Smith during a standoff at the Lansdowne Towers apartments Wednesday night, police were able to apprehend him without firing a single shot.

It wasn’t easy though.

“It took six of us to take him into custody,” said police Superintendent Michael Chitwood on Thursday. “At the end of the day, nobody got hurt. It was a great job by police.”

The standoff unfolded at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday when police were dispatched to the complex in the 700 block of Providence Road for a barricaded subject. Smith, Chitwood said, had barricaded himself inside of his third-floor apartment, saying he had guns, and threatening to kill anyone who tried to come inside.

When police arrived, Smith allegedly began shooting at them from his third-floor apartment in D Building. He fired at least eight to 10 shots at the officers, Chitwood said.

Police evacuated some of the apartments and homes nearby as Capt. Thomas Johnson Jr. tried to negotiate with Smith. When the negotiations stalled and Smith allegedly continued to fire random shots, police decided to fire tear gas into the apartment.

Minutes later there was a loud boom and a bright flash. SWAT officers stormed the apartment. Smith had apparently moved from where he had been firing the shots and was in another part of the apartment, police said.

“There was one gunshot, which we assumed was a suicide,” Chitwood said. “It was a rouse just to bring us in.”

They tossed a flash bomb in the room where the shot came from then kicked in the door. They found Smith on the floor on all fours with a gun in his hand by his knee, police said. He was ordered to drop the weapon.

“I don’t need the gun now,” he said, according to Chitwood. “Come and get me.”

The burly 80-year-old put up quite a fight. It took six officers to subdue him, authorities said.

Police subsequently obtained a search warrant for the apartment. They confiscated a fully loaded 9 mm handgun and a fully loaded .22-caliber rifle, Chitwood said, adding that both weapons had one round in the chamber.

Smith was taken to a local hospital for treatment of minor wrist injuries. No one else was injured.

Authorities said Smith apparently had a beef with the Philadelphia Inquirer and repeatedly stated he had lost money in the stock market. His family told authorities he had a sleep disorder and not slept for days.

Smith was arraigned Thursday on charges including possession of an instrument of crime, possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment, terroristic threats, discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure, resisting arrest, bomb threats, aggravated assault and assault of a law enforcement officer. He was remanded to Delaware County prison in lieu of 10 percent of $250,000 bail.

[jthrelf]

Lost money in the stock market? When, in 2008? Or maybe he was invested in Ruger...

[jsaranczak]

Umm... They confiscated a fully loaded handgun and rifle each with a round in the chamber, even though the man had been shooting and fired a shot which brought the officers to the room. I doubt the man fired a shot, dropped the magazine, chambered another round, reinserted a magazine, just to surrender. Not that this is significant, just interesting.

[mollymayhem82]

Kinda wondering why they didn't kill him. I mean, cops seem to be pretty damn triggerhappy these days, no offense to the cops here.

[BobGun]

Kinda wondering why they didn't kill him. I mean, cops seem to be pretty damn triggerhappy these days, no offense to the cops here.

This is the exact way this should have been handled. The police did a very good job with this one.

[internet troll]

Kinda wondering why they didn't kill him. I mean, cops seem to be pretty damn triggerhappy these days, no offense to the cops here.

Maybe, but the media shapes a lot of perceptions. This is in a small local newspaper and I doubt the story will ever make the bigger news networks because it's not sensational enough. I would be willing to bet that if they did shoot him the chances of it making CNN etc…. would be much greater. It's possible non violent endings happen a lot more than people are aware but it normally never makes its past the small town newspapers because it lacks the sensationalist angle. And if you spend a lot of time on a site that tends to focus on the negative police stories…… That perception has the potential to be blown out of proportion.

[Gman106]

The Stinkquirer will get your blood boiling. Best to avoid it for reasons of health, safety and potential police stand-offs.

[Deleted]

Kinda wondering why they didn't kill him. I mean, cops seem to be pretty damn triggerhappy these days, no offense to the cops here.

Because a swat team's mission is to save lives.

[jakebrake]

Lost money in the stock market? When, in 2008? Or maybe he was invested in Ruger...

if the delivery is THAT far behind, I'd hate to be his paperboy!

[Deleted]

Maybe, but the media shapes a lot of perceptions. This is in a small local newspaper and I doubt the story will ever make the bigger news networks because it's not sensational enough. I would be willing to bet that if they did shoot him the chances of it making CNN etc…. would be much greater. It's possible non violent endings happen a lot more than people are aware but it normally never makes its past the small town newspapers because it lacks the sensationalist angle. And if you spend a lot of time on a site that tends to focus on the negative police stories…… That perception has the potential to be blown out of proportion.

Did you see our successful standoff on CNN yesterday? Nope... do you ever see any successful standoffs on CNN??? Nope.. and they are every day.