The occupant of a home who opened fire when deputies tried to serve an eviction notice is dead after an hourslong standoff, said Pittsburgh authorities, CNN reports. “The subject in this incident was pronounced deceased,” public safety officials posted Wednesday afternoon on X, formerly known as Twitteer. Seven deputies went to evict a man from a home in Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood,and several minutes elapsed before they made contact with him, said Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin Kraus. The man opened fire, and deputies took cover and then fired back, the sheriff said.
After a standoff of more four and a half hours, the suspect was dead. “We believe the suspect was neutralized during the gunfight,” Pittsburgh Police Chief Larry Scirotto said. Pennsylvania State Police identified the gunman as William Hardison Sr. During the standoff, the suspect fired at law enforcement from first- and second-story windows and through walls, authorities said. The suspect also shot down police drones. “I’m sure as the investigation continues, we’ll learn a lot more about him, the home, the family and the potential issues or volatility that we (faced) today and what led up to that,” Scirotto said. The sheriff said the seven-officer detail was larger than normal but “we had no information whatsoever that this individual was this dangerous or that there were firearms in the house.”