STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. – Stafford authorities forced their way into a hotel room after a woman who was thought to be armed holed herself up Tuesday afternoon.
Sheriff’s deputies forced their way into the room about 4 p.m. and found a 54-year-old woman who refused to check out of the hotel earlier that morning.
After the afternoon-long standoff, sheriff’s deputies searched the room for weapons but did not find any. Authorities did not say if the woman had been using drugs or alcohol.
“It appears the woman did not want to leave the hotel, and when the deputies entered the room she was taken into custody without incident,” said Kennedy.
The woman has not been charged, and it’s unclear if charges will be filed.
Stafford sheriff’s deputies swarmed the Howard Johnson Hotel, at 386 Warrenton Road in Falmouth, just after noon.
A hotel manager called police about a guest who wouldn’t leave, and when a sheriff’s deputy went to the room to investigate, the deputy heard the rattling sound of what he thought was a shotgun being loaded, said Kennedy.
A SWAT team set up a perimeter around the hotel as bystanders looked on, using the hotel’s roof as a vantage point. Authorities then used a loudspeaker system to communicate with the woman in an effort to coax her out of the room, said Kennedy.
When that didn’t work, deputies entered.
Authorities have not released a motive for the incident.
