WARMINSTER, Pa. -
An elderly woman is dead after being caught in the crossfire during a seven-hour standoff between a man and police in Bucks County.
FOX 29's Dawn Timmeney reported live Wednesday morning from the scene where it all happened.
An elderly woman is dead after being caught in the crossfire during a seven-hour standoff between a man and police in Bucks County.
FOX 29 cameras were rolling as the suspect was taken into custody overnight.
Police were initially called to the 2000 building of the Jefferson on the Creek Apartment Complex on the 600 block of East Street Road in Warminster for a domestic disturbance, and the incident was referred to a domestic violence case worker.
At approximately 7:40 p.m., a second call was made by police reporting shots fired at the same residence.
"The responding officers were met by detectives who were in the complex on a non-related investigation and who responded to the area after hearing the gunfire. As they approached the 2000 building the officers came under heavy fire from the upstairs apartment. Officers returned fire," police said in a news release.
During the exchange, a 90-year-old woman – the downstairs neighbor of the suspected gunman – was struck by gunfire and died of her wounds at the scene.
Police negotiators were able to talk the suspected gunman out around 2:30 a.m. He has been identified as 49-year-old Andrew Cairns.
Police are not yet publicly identifying the deceased victim.
"The Warminster Police Department wishes to express our deepest sympathies to the family of deceased victim," police said in the news release. "Although we have notified the victim's family she has not been positively identified by the coroner's office therefore we will not release her name at this time."
Investigators aren't yet saying whether she was struck by police bullets or those fired by suspect. The Bucks County District Attorney's Office is handling the investigation.
Cairns is being held on aggravated assault charges at this time, but police said they anticipate additional charges will be filed. He's being arraigned at 11:45 a.m. in magisterial district court in Warminster.
During the barricade standoff, many people in the area were being told to stay inside their homes. The American Red Cross had also set up a center at William Tennent High School for anyone displaced by the situation. Those residents were allowed to return Wednesday morning.
FOX 29's Dawn Timmeney has more details in the video report above.
