Fountain Springs standoff ends peacefully; man in custody
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - A pair of state police vehicles sit outside a home on Fountain Street following the conclusion of a standoff there on July 15, 2020.
FOUNTAIN SPRINGS – One man is in custody and facing charges after a standoff in this Butler Township village prompted the response of a state police Special Emergency Response Team and a lockdown of North Schuylkill schools.
State Police said they were called to 860 Fountain Street (Route 61) around 7:26am for reports of a male tossing objects from a second floor window into the road below.
John Miller, 54, is accused of throwing the objects and brandishing a semi-automatic pistol from the second floor of that house.
Troopers say Miller tossed glass jars at troopers retreating to safety, nearly striking them.
The Special Emergency Response Team responded to the scene with a Bearcat armored personnel carrier and a “Rook” armored skid steer, both of which approached the building intermittently.
The standoff came to a conclusion around 1:00pm when Miller exited the home and was taken into custody.
Miller is facing charges of reckless endangerment, propulsion of missiles onto a roadway, terroristic threats, and simple assault, all misdemeanors. He was taken to a local hospital for a mental health evaluation.
Athletic practices were underway at North Schuylkill at the time of the incident, prompting the district to issue a lockdown for student athletes and coaching staff on site. The neighborhood the district is in was also closed off, as Route 61 was closed from Malones Road to the village of Fountain Springs itself.
Janet Cole lives down the road from the scene and wasn’t allowed back to her home until around 1:20pm.
“While we were out here, we heard the police talking to him, asking him to come out with his hands up, that he would get the help that he needed,” Cole said.
Debris could be seen strewn across Route 61 for much of the incident. Much of the debris consisted of audio cassette tapes.
Firefighters from Lavelle, Frackville, and Ashland assisted with traffic control.
The road reopened around 2:30pm.
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