A big police presence was amassed at a New York City housing project to arrest a man in a 2010 killing, but police on the scene say they have determined he was not there.

Site of New York standoff
Site of New York standoff (WCBS TV)
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The NYPD went to a Lower East Side building Wednesday looking for a suspect in the death of a Pace University student.

Police say the man's mother and other family members were inside the apartment and refused to let police inside, so officers initially treated it as a hostage situation. It's not clear how police learned the suspect wasn't there.

Authorities say the student who was killed sold marijuana at an apartment in Manhattan's financial district.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved)

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