Standoff in Amity ends peacefully
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
The state police Special Emergency Response Team was at the scene of a standoff in Amwell Township Monday morning.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Police leave the home where a standoff took place Monday along Amity Ridge Road in Amwell Township.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Residents return to the home where a standoff took place Monday along Amity Ridge Road in Amwell Township.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
A home where a standoff took place Monday along Amity Ridge Road in Amwell Township
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Police leave the scene of a standoff Monday in Amwell Township.
Brad Hundt/Observer-Reporter
Cpl. Thomas Carter of the Pennsylvania State Police explains to reporters how a standoff unfolded Monday in Amwell Township and discusses its peaceful resolution.
A standoff in Amity that apparently stemmed from a domestic dispute was peacefully resolved Monday afternoon.
The Pennsylvania State Police Special Emergency Response Team was called to the incident at 644 Amity Ridge Road (Route 19) about 6 a.m. Monday.
David Spruill, 34, of that address, was facing charges of terroristic threats and simple assault, police said.
The incident started when a call came through the Washington County 911 center that Spruill had threatened his wife. About 7:40 a.m., she walked into the Pennsylvania State Police barracks in North Bethlehem Township and said that, at about 5:30 a.m., Spruill contacted her and said that if she did not come home, he would either shoot her in the face or shoot himself.
Spruill’s wife showed state police a text message in which Spruill allegedly stated, “You really want me to kill myself, huh?” Immediately after that message, a picture of a black, semi-automatic pistol with a bullet sitting next to the gun was sent to her phone.
No shots were fired in the incident, according to Thomas Carter, a corporal with the Pennsylvania State Police. Police and volunteer firefighters blocked off Route 19 in the area surrounding Amity until the incident was resolved. The neighborhood was evacuated.
“That’s one of the first things we did,” Carter said. “That’s pretty much our protocol.”
Numerous state police cars and SERT equipment was staged in a gravel parking lot along Amity Ridge Road as the standoff continued. Once it was resolved, about seven hours after Spruill’s wife came to the police barracks, police were seen taking a rifle out of the home. A man who answered the door at the home said that everyone was “OK.”
“It ended with the best possible scenario,” Carter said. “No one was injured and it ended peacefully.”
A preliminary hearing for Spruill is set for next Monday. He is being held in the Washington County jail.