Nov 22, 2012 2 min read

CECIL – A Cecil Township man surrendered peacefully following a more than three-hour Thanksgiving Day standoff with police at his residence, where he had fired several shots at family members while armed with an assault rifle.

Cecil police Capt. Shawn Bukovinsky said no one was injured, and that officers had taken the suspect, Joseph Kovan, 41, into custody outside his 13 Charles St. residence.

“Everybody is safe,” Bukovinsky said after the standoff ended about 8:30 p.m. “He did shoot at his father and sister. He gave himself up.” The Washington County Regional SWAT Team was summoned to the residence after Kovan’s parents managed to flee the house and call 911 at 5:10 p.m., Bukovinsky said. Police later managed to convince Kovan to allow his sister to leave the residence, he said.

He said police were preparing late Thursday to file charges against Kovan, who had been under the influence of alcohol when he began arguing with his relatives.

Police from multiple departments also were summoned to the standoff.

A resident of Charles Street, when reached by phone during the standoff, said police told her a man had barricaded himself inside a house there with a rifle. The woman, who did not want to be identified, said police told her to stay inside her house.

During the incident, police from neighboring departments had blocked Cecil-Henderson Road between Route 50 and Hickory Grade Road.