Cops probe details of dispute that triggered armed emergency response

Police officials Thursday were still sorting through details of an incident that prompted them to dispatch the Emergency Services Unit to surround a multi-family house on Black Rock Turnpike after a reported landlord-tenant dispute Wednesday night.

The incident began around 7:45 p.m. when police received a report fourth-hand report from an upstairs neighbor that the "landlord" had apparently threatened a first-floor resident with a gun at 533 Black Rock Turnpike.

According to police Sgt. Suzanne Lussier, the building's property manager, not the landlord, had arrived to show the first-floor apartment to a prospective tenant. A woman in the apartment, who has been staying there with her sister, got into an argument with the property manager over the rent, according to police. She then called her sister, who was not home at the time to report the argument; the sister subsequently called a friend, and the friend then called the third-floor tenant who called "911."

Police officers, along with the heavily armed Emergency Services Unit, were sent to the scene and within minutes, Lussier said, determined that the property manager was no longer on the scene and no one was in any danger.

"They never determined whether there was any gun there at all," Lussier said, "but based on the initial information, police responded with the appropriate resources."

She said many of the details of the dispute were lost in translation because of a language barrier with the woman staying in the first-floor apartment and the fact that information was relayed to police fourth-hand.

"It remains under investigation," Lussier said, and interviews are being conducted with the property manager, the landlord, tenants and any other witnesses involved. If it is determined that threats were made, there could be an arrest, she said, adding, "We don't know the totality of the situation at this time."

Because initial reports indicated the man -- who was not identified -- had threatened to harm police and another tenant, police closed off the area around the house. Neighbors and the other tenants were taken to a safe area, according to Deputy Chief Christopher Lyddy said. The house is located near School Street, Castle Avenue and Kings Highway East.

Area roads were reopened by 9:30 p.m.