Hours-Long Youngwood Standoff Ends; Gunman Found Dead
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YOUNGWOOD (KDKA) – An hours-long standoff in Youngwood ended Tuesday afternoon after authorities found the gunman dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Police surrounded a home in Westmoreland County after a man fired several shots Tuesday morning.
According to state police, the incident started just after 8 a.m. at a home in the 400 block of South Fourth Street in Youngwood.
Earlier this morning, David Joseph Havranek allegedly walked outside and fired several shots, which struck multiple cars and at least one house.
The man then went back inside the home.
Erin Corder says she was on her way to work just a few blocks away from where Havranek opened fire.
"I started shaking. My first mind is, like, am I going to die?" she said.
Corder was rehabbing a townhouse not too far away when she says she could not believe what she was seeing.
"I just see a gentleman standing on his porch in a tank top, a wife beater shirt on, some jeans just shooting out multiple rounds. I probably counted more than five, I'd say," Corder said. "He had a grip with both hands, and he was just shooting. Not, like, you know, going all crazy, but it looked like he was aiming at something and shooting."
One vehicle in the area was riddled with bullet holes.
Watch Brenda Waters' report --
Another neighbor says she was a little too close for comfort.
"I heard gunshots. I heard one, and then I heard several more after that," the neighbor said, "and then there was a little lull in between and then I heard more go off and I actually counted those. I know there were six in the second round."
Police surrounded the home and negotiators tried to make contact with the man in the hopes of bringing a peaceful end to the situation. Officers used a bullhorn, flash bang grenades and tear gas in an attempt to get Havranek out of the house. They also brought in family members and even tried delivering a cell phone into the house, hoping he would use it to make a call.
Residents in the area were asked to stay inside their homes.
The stand-off ended just before 2:30 p.m.
Havranek was found dead inside the home from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
"Unfortunately, we were able to get video cameras inside the house and upon examination from those cameras, we were able to find it would appear there was a person that was deceased in the house. We made entry and sure enough, unfortunately, it appears that the individual that started this incident is deceased now from a self-inflicted gunshot wound," Trooper Stephen Limani said.
No other injuries were reported.
Havranek has a criminal history in which he was arrested for criminal attempted homicide, shooting into an occupied structure and shooting at cars.
