BANGOR, Maine — A tense, six-hour standoff between Bangor police and an armed man at a Union Street residence ended peacefully Sunday afternoon, according to police.
Shortly before 2 p.m., Nicholas Condon, 27, of Portland exited 831 Union St. with his hands up in surrender, according to a news release from Bangor police Sgt. Tim Cotton.
“Anytime you can take someone out of a house that came in with violent intent and they can be taken into custody peacefully, we’re pretty happy with that,” Cotton said moments after Condon was placed into a police cruiser. “We’re really happy with how all our officers and our tac team responded, our negotiators, our Criminal Investigation Division. We’re just pleased he’s out of the house and no one’s been seriously injured or killed.”
The standoff began after police were called to the Union Street home about 8 a.m. for a report of a family fight, the release said. A man armed with a weapon had entered the residence and taken a man and woman hostage, according to Lt. Bob Bishop.
When police approached the residence, several shots were fired through the wall and door, according to Bishop, and police returned “a couple of bursts of fire.” The officers fell back, called in support and created a perimeter that would last for the next six hours. Police say no injuries resulted from the gunfire and have not said what sort of firearm Condon had.
Police say that Condon knew both hostages, but have yet to reveal information about how they knew one another or what the relationships to one another were.
Bangor officers deployed the department’s robot to keep an eye on any activity in and around the house while officers kept a safe distance.
Negotiators began speaking with the suspect over the phone and convinced him to release the female hostage and later the male.
Police said that during the course of the standoff — after the hostages had been released and negotiations stalled — multiple rounds of tear gas were fired into 831 Union St. on at least three separate occasions.
“They were preparing to do another dose, but [Condon] made a decision to come out just before they had to do that,” Cotton said.
The National Guard had been running drills with helicopters earlier in the morning, but police asked them to stop as the standoff situation unfolded, according to Bishop.
Union Street, which had been closed to at least the Vermont Avenue intersection during the standoff, was reopened after police cleared the area around 2:30 p.m.
Condon is charged with two counts of kidnapping, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, reckless conduct with a firearm, burglary and terrorizing, police said. He may face additional charges as the investigation continues. Police took Condon to Penobscot County Jail, where he’s being held to await those charges.
Investigators from the state attorney general’s office are assisting with the investigation, Cotton said in the release.
Maine State Police, the Bangor Fire Department and the Bangor Public Works department assisted during the incident. The American Red Cross deployed its emergency response van to the scene shortly before the standoff ended to provide hot coffee to any first responders or media that needed it, as temperatures stayed in the single digits throughout the stalemate.