RICHMOND, Va. –- Several members of Richmond's SWAT team were called in Tuesday to force a woman out of an apartment near Chamberlayne Avenue and Brookland Parkway, in North Richmond. The woman, police said, was making troubling threats.
"She made threats to service workers in the city that had come by to do a welfare check and made statements that put her and others at risk," Richmond Police Maj. Steve Drew said.
When the woman would not come out, police forced her hand.
"They started shooting tear gas in there because someone in there wouldn't come out," neighbor Keba Waters said. "I want to hit record to make sure police bring her out the right way."
Like Waters, other people living near the Gate Oaks Apartments on Chamberlayne Avenue, whipped out cell phones and began recording. After what police described as two hours of successful negotiations, they said the woman abruptly cut off communication. So police waited to hear from her, before launching tear gas to speed up the process.
"We deployed chemical agents high into the apartment to entice her to come out," said Drew.
After more than four hours, it was a peaceful end to a stressful situation. The woman inside was taken into custody and was taken by ambulance to be checked out at a nearby hospital. Police said she was going to get a mental evaluation.
People watching the situation walked away, thankful everyone was OK.
"I want to know what's going on in my community and that we are safe,” neighbor Dana Culley said. “That's why I'm here."
Police on scene said it was too early to talk about possible charges against the woman who police say is in her 50’s.
