Police identified a volunteer firefighter accused of holding four other firefighters hostage in the basement of a Montgomery County firehouse Tuesday.
Paul Jordan, 25, was taken into custody after a standoff situation at the La Mott Fire Company, No. 1 on Penrose Avenue in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, officials said. The ordeal began around 10:40 a.m. when Jordan, who investigators say was armed with a 9mm handgun, fired a shot into the wall of the building, according to police.
"Before we received the call he did fire one shot into the wall," said Cheltenham Township Police Chief John Norris.
After the shot, some people ran from the building but four others remained. Jordan, a former firefighter, almost immediately released one hostage before hunkering down with the other three, said police.
Hostage negotiators got in contact with Jordan by phone then in person after police cleared the ground floor of the building, said investigators.
After about one hour, officers in SWAT gear detained Jordan on the ground and took him away from the scene.
"He gave up to the SWAT team without a fight, there were no problems," said Norris.
A short time later, police could be seen loading Jordan into a police van and that van driving off toward the police station on Old York Road.
"The main thing is nobody got hurt," said Norris.
Jordan was a volunteer firefighter who'd been in an ongoing argument with the fire company that eventually led to his dismissal, said Norris. Police said Jordan was "distraught about the termination."
Investigators didn't elaborate on the reason for the dismissal. Jordan also worked for the Salvation Army Emergency Response Team and is also the property manager for the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
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"He's a respectable person," said Kyeisha Harris, Jordan's neighbor. "You never thought people could do something like that. It don't make no sense. Like, would he just snap? I don't know."
Police took Jordan and four hostages in for questioning. Jordan was then taken to Norristown State Hospital for a psychiatric observation. Charges against him are pending.
Jamaal Robinson, one of the hostages, told NBC10 he was doing fine after the tense ordeal.
"I've been in the military so it's not scary for me," he said.
Cheltenham Township Police blocked roads in the area as the situation played out. Police from nearby areas also responded to the scene as investigators urged people to avoid the area, which isn't far from a shopping center along Cheltenham Avenue and the Lynnewood Gardens apartments; and sits next to John Russell Park.
The La Mott fire company has been around since 1910. Firefighters there are responsible for protecting more than 2,100 people in their immediate area, which includes homes, two schools a major shopping mall, numerous churches and one major apartment complex, according to the fire company’s website. It’s one of five fire companies in Cheltenham Township.
“Historical La Mott” includes land inside the township that is outlined by Old York Road to the east, Penrose Avenue to the west, Beech Avenue to the North and Cheltenham Avenue to the south.
