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Attempted homicide suspect taken into custody after standoff

A man wanted for attempted homicide from a prior incident in Bethlehem was taken into custody following a several-hour standoff Wednesday in Slatington.

Slatington Borough police chief Dave Rachman said the man was wanted from Bethlehem on a warrant for attempted homicide for an incident a few weeks back.

Rachman said police responded around 8 a.m. to the home at 455 W. Church St., where after a several-hour standoff, they took Timothy Barr, 29, unknown address, into custody.

“The marshal service had been here to the house a couple weeks ago and tried, but were unsuccessful getting the guy to come to the door,” Rachman said. “They had new information he was probably back in the house again today.”

As a result, Rachman said they went back this morning with the marshal service.

“It was apparent he wasn’t going to come outside, at that point we activated emergency response team, Bethlehem City was notified, they contacted us, prepared a search warrant for the suspect, and the emergency response team was notified and tried to get him to come out and surrender on several occasions,” he said. “We deployed gas in the house, he still didn’t come out, and eventually (after) more negotiations, he came out and surrendered.”

Rachman said the man was taken into custody without incident.

He said there were no injuries, and the man was alone in the house.

Rachman said traffic was diverted throughout the incident, and school bus traffic was diverted as well.

“It was resolved peacefully, which was obviously our goal,” he said. “He’s in custody, and nobody was hurt.”

Rachman said the man faces no charges from Slatington police.

He said Barr was taken into custody, brought back to the Slatington Police Station, and transferred to Bethlehem City Police.

Rachman said also assisting at the scene were the Lehigh County Emergency Response Team, Lehigh County EMA, Slatington Fire Department and Slatington fire police.

Slatington Police Department took a man wanted for attempted homicide from a prior incident in Bethlehem City into custody following a several-hour standoff Wednesday in Slatington. TERRY AHNER/TIMES NEWS