State police were trying to arrest Hempfield man prior to daylong standoff

The man who authorities said died by suicide during a police standoff Monday in a Hempfield mobile home park was accused of threatening a woman with a gun two days earlier and firing two shots into the ceiling, according to court papers.

Gerald A. Long Jr., 54, was charged Sunday by state police with terroristic threats, simple assault and reckless endangerment. The Saturday incident and Monday standoff happened at Long’s Wencliff Lane home at Hilltop Estates.

A woman told troopers that she was moving items out of the home about 5:30 p.m. Saturday, according to court papers. Long was intoxicated and holding a rifle while sitting on the couch, she told authorities.

He pointed the gun at her, and she talked to him and tried to convince him to put the gun down and get something to eat. After he fired two shots into the ceiling, she wrested the gun away and left.

Police said Long placed 25 phone calls to her throughout the night, threatening to kill her, himself and anyone else who arrived at the home, according to court papers.

Troopers were there Monday morning to serve an arrest warrant, Trooper Steve Limani said.

“We knew that he had a heavy load of firearms in the residence” and a significant amount of ammunition, Limani said.

Long threatened to shoot police before 10 a.m., and authorities set up a perimeter. He barricaded himself inside for hours, leaving the community paralyzed for much of the day. Long was pronounced dead just before 9 p.m. at his mobile home after police forced entry and found him with a gunshot wound, Limani said.

Residents in that area were asked to shelter in place Monday while the state police Special Emergency Response Team was joined by members of Pittsburgh Police SWAT and the state Attorney General’s Office.

Armored vehicles arrived at the scene throughout the day, and Penn Adamsburg Road was closed, forcing many motorists to find detours. Residents of the road and mobile home park who weren’t home at the time had to wait it out.

An emergency notification asking residents to shelter in place was sent out to more smartphones than intended, according to Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety. Officials were working with the vendor of the notification system to determine the cause of the issue.