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Firefighters Escort Intoxicated Suspect Off Roof, Ending Standoff

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- On his own accord, 30 year old Shawn Redmond walked down a rescue ladder following a "rooftop standoff" that began after a third party complaint about a domestic incident.

Redmond went straight to a waiting ambulance....then to UPMC Mercy Hospital, before being taken to jail.

When officers arrived at the Chelton Ave home, a woman companion had already managed to get out of the apartment house unharmed, but Redmond  barricaded himself inside, then climbed through a window to the rooftop.

SWAT  was called in, because police knew that he had access to guns.  A perimeter was set up to keep people several blocks away from the incident.

Several homes in the neighborhood were evacuated as a precaution, but, no shots were fired during the incident.

Sonya Toler, a Pittsburgh Police Bureau spokeswoman told reporters "this was almost a total public safety call out...not only police, fire, and EMS..there was a lot of team work to ensure safety in the community while we were undertaking this operation."

Before he surrendered, a State Police helicopter circled over the rooftop where Redmond had gone, urging him to surrender peacefully, police said, however, he was incapacitated, unconscious, because of drugs, alcohol, or both.

While the drama unfolded, neighbors  like Cathy Yates watched in disbelief.

"I wouldn't have guessed anything like this right here, I  thought this was a regular day coming home from work; it's very sad, very sad," she told KDKA TV's Ralph Iannotti.

Toler said there were two outstanding warrants against Redmond, one from the city and the second from Allegheny County.

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