ROANOKE, Va. – It was a long afternoon for people living along Avenham Avenue in Southwest Roanoke as police were in a standoff for three hours.
“I’ve lived here for 37 years and nothing like this has ever happened,” neighbor Dorry McCorkle said.
McCorkle and her neighbors were asked to shelter in place after police heard a gunshot while responding to a call about a man suffering from a mental health crisis.
At the time, police were asking everyone to avoid the area.
“We’re asking anybody who lives in the area to shelter in place for the time being. Just stay inside your homes and if officers come and tell you to do something, please do it,” Roanoke City Police Department PIO Caitlyn Cline told 10 News earlier in the evening.
Neighbors said it was important to remain safe but they wanted to know what was going on.
McCorkle said she couldn’t do things she ordinarily would do in the neighborhood.
“It was quite a shock to be confined to your house, I must say. I kept thinking, ‘Oh I’d love to go out and take a walk’ because we always take a walk in this neighborhood … it’s beautiful … you couldn’t do it.,” McCorkle said.
After three hours of the standoff, the man exited his home in handcuffs surrounded by police, after he surrendered peacefully.
In the video above, he can eventually be seen getting into a police car.
Neighbors were able to return to normal but some fear there will be more incidents involving guns.
“I’m glad it was resolved but it did make me think and it does make me think that this is going to happen more and more because we have more and more guns.”
Police said the man was taken to get a mental health examination and is also being charged with reckless handling of a firearm.