A Lansford man is in custody after a nearly 10-hour standoff with police.

Lansford police went to a residence on W. Snyder Avenue at 1:30 p.m. and when they arrived on scene, the man inside started shooting at them.

According to reports from scene, he was using a high-powered rifle.

Police returned fire and a standoff ensued.

Originally there was a report of an injured officer but that was not confirmed.

In addition to Lansford police, Nesquehoning and Coaldale police were on scene as well as state police.

According to reports on the scene the man is Brad Simpson.

Throughout evening police used tear gas and other intervention to bring him out.

In December 2019, Simpson, 49, was charged with institutional vandalism after he ripped up a bench that was bolted to the floor in a booking cell at the county prison.

At that time he threatened to harm corrections officers if they entered the cell. He was also ramming the cell door with the bench, according to Times News archives.

Patterson, West Ridge and Dock streets are shut down in addition to W. Snyder.

We’ll update as details become available.