What to Know
- A woman was found dead on an apartment floor and a man taken into custody after an hours-long standoff at an NY apartment building
- Cops swarmed the Cottage Street scene in Middletown Tuesday after getting a 911 call; the identities of those involved haven't been released
- Anyone with information is asked to call the Middletown Police Department at 845-343-3151
An hours-long standoff at a multi-family building in New York ended late Tuesday with a woman found dead on an apartment floor and her long-time partner taken to a hospital in handcuffs, authorities say.
Police in the Orange County community of Middletown initially got a 911 call about two dead people in the Cottage Street apartment around dinnertime Tuesday, authorities said Wednesday. They sped to the scene and tried to get in, but a man threatened them and refused to let them inside, authorities say.
Cops set up a perimeter around the home and tried to negotiate with the man. They say all efforts to communicate failed. The apartment building was evacuated and, after about four hours, SWAT officers forced their way in.
They found a woman dead on the floor; cops say she appeared to have been dead for several days.
Her long-term partner, the man involved in the standoff, was taken into custody and found to be suffering from a "mental health emergency" and other medical problems, officials said. He remained hospitalized in stable condition Wednesday.
The dead woman's identity is being withheld, police said. An autopsy was expected to be conducted Wednesday to determine how she died. Police say there were no obvious signs of trauma or other physical abuse to her body. The man's identity hasn't been released either.
It wasn't clear how many other people were in the apartment building at the time of the evacuation, but no other injuries were reported.
At this point, no charges appear to have been filed. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call the Middletown Police Department at 845-343-3151.
