At approximately 1:15 p.m. on March 10, officers of the Morgantown Police Department responded to a report of a domestic dispute with the male party holding the female party at gunpoint at a residence located on the 1000 block of North Willey Street. The initial report came from a third-party that said the incident was being reported to them via text message from the female party.
Officers arrived on scene to find that the victim, Mary Phillips, the suspects wife, fled the residence and reported to officers that her husband was inside the house, armed with a handgun. The victim stated that the suspect pointed the firearm at her and threatened to shoot her.
Officers immediately secured the area, closed North Willey Street to vehicular traffic and notified Monongalia County Schools of the situation due to the proximity of Mountaineer Middle School. All other law enforcement agencies in the area were notified of the situation and the Morgantown Police Department Special Response Team was activated to respond to the scene. As a safety precaution, the Morgantown Fire Department was activated and staged near the scene as well.
Detectives of the Morgantown Police Department were able to establish contact with the suspect and convince him to surrender to authorities. No shots were fired, and no injuries were reported.
The suspect has been named as Christopher Scott PHILLIPS, 37 years of age, with a last known address in Tunnelton, WV. PHILLIPS was taken into custody and is currently being processed at the Morgantown Police Department. Charges are pending as a result of the ongoing investigation, but officers did recover a semi-automatic handgun from the scene.