Four-and-a-half hour standoff in Cudahy ends peacefully

CUDAHY -- A four-and-a-half hour standoff in Cudahy ends peacefully after guns were drawn and homes were evacuated.

“I heard the shots about 8:00 in the morning,” said, Violanda Zoto. Residents were startled by a violent situation outside of their apartment building on Packard Avenue. Cudahy Police along with several surrounding agencies responded.

“I’m a little nervous concerning what happened yesterday,” said Colleen Hammond. Many folks, still on edge from recent mass shootings in Connecticut grew concerned as police searched for a shooting suspect inside the building. It all stemmed from a shootout early Saturday morning.

“We had a report of shots being exchanged by 2 male subjects in the 6200 block of Packard Avenue. We have one person who was taken into custody immediately after the shooting and one firearm was recovered. We had information that the second male subject ran into the apartment building across the street,” added Cudahy Police Chief Tom Poellot.

With guns drawn police searched for the second man. Streets were closed and nearby businesses were warned as a South Shore tactical joint unit made entry into the building to look for the second gunman.

Arben Zoto said, “I’m sleeping and special police come and knock on my door and say get out everybody.” Officers evacuated some residents before they targeted apartment number three. “We had the building lock down pretty tight,” added Poellot.

After making their way inside they apprehended the second suspect. He was taken into custody along with a female. Poellot said, “Right now the relationship of that female to the incident is being investigated.”

While police piece together the motive of the shooting and learn more about the suspects involved, residents living here are just thankful it ended peacefully and happy about the precautions that were taken. No injuries were reported.