Suspect in custody after shooting and police standoff in Monessen involving barricaded person
A suspect is now in custody after a police situation unfolded in Westmoreland County where a person was barricaded inside a home where officers were trying to serve a search warrant looking for a shooting suspect.
A standoff with police lasted five hours.
The suspect has been identified as Jay Din Robert Eleam and he is facing multiple charges including attempted homicide and aggravated assault.
The victim's girlfriend told police that both her and Eleam got into a verbal altercation on the phone, and Eleam encouraged the victim to come to the Leeds Avenue residence.
The victim and his girlfriend drove past the residence and parked in a back alley and afterwards there may have been an exchange of gunfire between the victim and Eleam according to the Westmoreland County DAs office.
The victim was shot in the forehead and taken to Penn Highlands Mon Valley Hospital by his girlfriend and later flown to a Pittsburgh-area hospital.
The shooting took place near the intersection of Leeds Avenue and Marion Avenue around 11 p.m. on Thursday.
A spokesperson for the Westmoreland County DAs Office says the barricading incident started along Leeds Avenue around 4:30 a.m. on Friday.
The DA's Office says the person barricaded themselves in the home after officers attempted to serve a search warrant related to a shooting that happened in the area several hours beforehand.
SERT officers from the Pennsylvania State Police were called to the scene.
The victim is expected to survive, and Eleam was taken to custody on Friday around 9 a.m. after attempting to run from the residence.
The Monessen School District posted on their social media page announcing that the district was on a 2-hour delay. Superintendent Dr. Robert Motte said the delay is related to the active police incident.
