Germantown standoff ends; suspect took his own life, police say
GERMANTOWN (WPVI) -- An intense standoff with police in Philadelphia's Germantown section ended at 1:33 a.m. Wednesday with the death of a 32-year-old murder suspect.
Police say the suspect shot himself and was pronounced dead at the scene. His name has not been released.
The standoff situation began just after 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 1300 block of Haines Street.
The suspect fired several shots at officers, and warnings were issued for residents to shelter in place.
Philadelphia Police Captain Sekou Kinebrew said, "At that point, he proceeded up to the roof, where he fired at least one shot from a firearm at police officers that responded. He ends up going back in the house from the roof - back into the house that he was in - and fires at least one more shot at the police officers."
Police say the suspect's burst of violence actually began hours earlier and some distance away.
A 25-year-old woman, identified as Michelle Saint-Aude, was shot around 1 p.m. Tuesday on the 1200 block of Sanger Street in Philadelphia's Frankford section.
Saint-Aude, whom police described as the suspect's ex-girlfriend, was shot several times by the suspect after an argument outside her home.
Officers rushed her to Albert Einstein Medical Center. She was pronounced dead at 1:53 p.m.
Police say the suspect, who had a history of criminal offenses, fled on foot down an alley between Sylvester and Oakland streets then got into a car.
"Police from the 15th district were able to get behind him and follow him a distance, but he crashed his car in the area of the 4200 block of Broad Street," said Kinebrew. "He then fled on foot, and we were not able to keep up with him."
Later, police received tips that he was on the 1300 block of Haines Street.
Negotiators had been trying to talk him into giving himself up peacefully, but to no avail.
That's when the standoff with police began.
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