Armed man barricades himself in convenience store on Westcott Street
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UPDATED: April 19, 2022, at 12:20 a.m.
A man barricaded himself inside a convenience store on the 500 block of Westcott Street on Sunday night.
The street was blocked off by police, and officers with long guns and shields were reportedly called to the scene. Dispatches have said that two other people were in Pop Shop and the man appeared to be armed, SPD said.
Officers were huddling behind two cars as they yelled at the man to come out of the store, syracuse.com reported.
An ambulance was reportedly dispatched to the area, and helicopters have been flying overhead. Three police negotiators arrived on the scene at around 9:45 p.m., syracuse.com said.
Two people left the store shortly after 10 p.m., and a SWAT team has since arrived on the scene.
Syracuse University’s Department of Public Safety asked students to stay away from the area at this time in a campus-wide email at around 9 p.m.
At 11:04 p.m., DPS reported in a campus-wide email that SPD had taken a suspect into custody following the brief standoff, but police activity will continue in the area.
According to an email from SPD at 11:29 p.m., the department responded just after 8:47 p.m. to the area of South Beech Street to reports of a suspicious person. A man was walking around waving a handgun with a woman and two dogs.
When police arrived at the scene on Westcott Street, the man, along with the woman and two dogs, retreated. He then barricaded himself in the corner store, according to the email. The only other person in the store was a clerk. Officers surrounded the building and the Emergency Response Team arrived to assist.
The suspect, who SPD later identified as a 45-year-old man, emerged from the store and was taken into custody without an incident after a little more than an hour. The weapon was later recovered and no injuries were reported, the email wrote.
Sergeant Thomas Blake told The Daily Orange that the woman and the store clerk were questioned by SPD’s Criminal Investigations Division as of 12:13 a.m.
At 6:35 p.m. on April 18, SPD said in an email that it charged Fernando Johnson with New York State Penal Law charges of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, criminal possession of a firearm in the second degree, menacing in the second degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree after he was found to be in possession of crack cocaine.
Johnson is currently being held at the Onondaga County Justice Center, the email read.
SPD also said that the woman was identified as 22-year-old Kailey Kozubowski, who was also logged at the Onondaga County Justice Center for outstanding warrants.
This post will be updated with additional reporting.
