Domestic dispute leads to standoff, school lock down in Morgantown

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A domestic dispute resulted in a three hour standoff and one arrest on Willey Street in Morgantown Tuesday.

Morgantown Police Chief Ed Preston says the response began at 1:15 p.m. when officers received a report of hostage situation.

“Received a complaint from a third party,”Preston said,”Reporting they had received texts from a person inside the residence saying they were being held at gun point.”

When police arrived at the scene a female ran from the residence and informed them her husband, Christopher Scott Phillips, 37, of Tunnelton, was armed inside the residence and threatening to shoot the neighbors or anyone that came to the house.

“Detectives were able to establish contact with the suspect, after a standoff they were able to negotiate his surrender,”Preston said,”He was taken into custody without any further incident or injury to anybody.”

Preston says during the incident police were communicating with officials from the Mountaineer Middle School.

“The Safety Director, the Principal and School Resource Officer put the school on lock down for the sake of the children and there was an evacuation plan in place,”Preston said,”We were able to negotiate the surrender before the evacuation plan was to be executed.”

Preston says Phillips is from Tunnelton but is known to law enforcement.

“We have had a number of ongoing issues from domestic calls to the residence before,”Preston said,”He’s known to law to law enforcement, not just Morgantown but law enforcement in general due to his previous history.”

Police recovered a semi-automatic handgun from the scene. Charges are pending.