Police say they evacuated a safe zone during the standoff.
But residents say they were close enough to still be hit by the gunfire.
The police chief spoke to us about the procedures of evacuation.
Chief Pierre Ritter says the perimeter is actually determined by the CERT team. He assured us that while residents who stayed behind the line were able to witness the gunfire, they were in no way close enough to be harmed.
Tuesday morning, Harrisburg Police Chief Pierre Ritter spoke about Monday's evacuation procedures at Hall Manor.
He said two rows in each direction surrounding the home in question were evacuated. While he said the evacuation was mandatory, he admitted it was actually strongly recommended.
Police knocked on doors, but he says they did not do a sweep of each home to ensure residents left.
But he did say that anyone within the perimeter was immediately escorted out to a safe location.
“It's hard to contain 50 units in a public housing area with the number of officers we had at the scene,” Ritter told us. “Not only Harrisburg officers but our tactical team. Sometimes it's hard to contain individuals, people get by and they may see that.”
So while some people were seen on the other side of the perimeter, the chief says it's an active scene and anyone found where they should not have been were escorted out.
But residents say they were close enough to still be hit by the gunfire.
The police chief spoke to us about the procedures of evacuation.
Chief Pierre Ritter says the perimeter is actually determined by the CERT team. He assured us that while residents who stayed behind the line were able to witness the gunfire, they were in no way close enough to be harmed.
Tuesday morning, Harrisburg Police Chief Pierre Ritter spoke about Monday's evacuation procedures at Hall Manor.
He said two rows in each direction surrounding the home in question were evacuated. While he said the evacuation was mandatory, he admitted it was actually strongly recommended.
Police knocked on doors, but he says they did not do a sweep of each home to ensure residents left.
But he did say that anyone within the perimeter was immediately escorted out to a safe location.
“It's hard to contain 50 units in a public housing area with the number of officers we had at the scene,” Ritter told us. “Not only Harrisburg officers but our tactical team. Sometimes it's hard to contain individuals, people get by and they may see that.”
So while some people were seen on the other side of the perimeter, the chief says it's an active scene and anyone found where they should not have been were escorted out.