Chief: SWAT Officers Free Woman Held Hostage During Monday Incident

UPDATE: Man Charged With Attempted Homicide Following Hostage Situation, Stabbing

Tactical officers breached a home in Bristol Borough early Monday evening to free a woman being held hostage following a stabbing.

Bristol Borough Chief of Police Steve Henry said officers were called to a stabbing in the 300 block of Cedar Street between Walnut and Mulberry streets around 3:20 p.m. Arriving officers learned a 30-year-old woman had left the home with two young kids and was driving to the hospital.

Officers found a 38-year-old man yelling and screaming out of a second-floor window at the home and holding a knife, Henry said.

At that time, police determined the 38-year-old man was holding a 47-year-old woman hostage. The woman was the mother of the wounded 30-year-old woman, Henry said.

Borough police requested assistance from Bristol Township and Tullytown officers. In addition, a regional tactical team that draws from multiple municipalities was summoned.

Neighbors and bystanders heard police calling for a man to come out of the home. SWAT operators armed with rifles took up positions around the home.

“Negotiations between the actor and police were sporadic for the next two hours,” Henry said.

The chief said the man became “more irrational” as the afternoon turned to evening and tactical officers ended up breaching the door to make entry. The woman inside was heard screaming and she was rescued by officers.

There was a brief struggle and the 38-year-old man was taken into custody, Henry said.

There was no immediate information on the condition of the woman who was stabbed.

The responding Lenco Bearcat armored vehicle struck an older sedan at the scene. The car appeared to have suffered minor damage.

Police said they plan to release more information later.