Armed Man Escapes Pittsburgh SWAT Standoff

PITTSBURGH --

Police said a man who somehow escaped from a SWAT situation on Pittsburgh's South Side on Wednesday morning is considered to be armed and dangerous.

Duane Gongaware, 35, apparently got out of a third-floor apartment in the 1100 block of East Carson Street, where he had been barricaded for hours, Pittsburgh police Cmdr. RaShall Brackney said.

East Carson Street was closed between 11th and 12th streets as police searched for Gongaware, who police said had his girlfriend's 9 mm handgun. A state police helicopter was also called in for the search.

The incident started at about 5 a.m. when Gongaware's girlfriend ran up to a police officer and said he was trying to beat her.

"They were having a domestic on the streets," said Brackney. "They had left a club together, had been drinking pretty heavily."

At one point, police fired pepper spray into the apartment in an attempt to force Gongaware outside.

"There is access from their apartment to the roof, and we got intel afterwards from the girlfriend who says he has a habit of going out through the roof and jumping from rooftop to rooftop," said Brackney.

"Kind of scary, especially with the way the world is and what's been happening in the neighborhoods around Pittsburgh," said neighbor Richard Sorrells.

Gongaware is wanted on warrants for domestic violence and aggravated assault on a police officer, police said.

Copyright 2008 by ThePittsburghChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.