Trenton standoff continues — Video shows neighbor being shot, dragged away
TRENTON — A standoff with a convicted sex offender who fired upon U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force officers serving a warrant continued past the 30 hour mark on Thursday afternoon.
Trenton police said Tyleeb Reese, 35, barricaded himself inside a city home on Centre Street just after 6 a.m. Wednesday, after firing on the officers.
"New Jersey State Police units are attempting to negotiate the suspect's surrender," Trenton Police spokesman Lt. Stephen Varn said, adding that police believe he is alone in the apartment and armed.
Varn said the immediate area around the residence on Centre Street has been evacuated with a large police presence.
Police remained all night, as negotiators used loudspeakers to urge Reese to put down his gun and come to a window, according to 6ABC Action News. The report added that negotiators also said Reese's leg is injured.
An area bordered by Lamberton Street, Bridge Street, Second Street and Cass Street remained closed on Thursday morning.
Court records obtained by New Jersey 101.5 reveal that Reese was a convicted sex offender who had been accused of raping a teenager between the ages of 13 and 16. He also was convicted for failing to register as a sex offender after his release from jail.
Police have identified the man killed outside the scene as Robert Powell Jr., 56, who lived on nearby Livingston Street. A YouTube video posted by the Trentonian shows Powell crawling toward police officers crouched behind two cars when Reese opened fire on the officers (warning, the video includes troubling imagery). Powell is struck and winds up laying on his back in the street. The officers return after a minute and drag Powell off the street.
Three Mercer County Sheriff’s Department officers were wounded in the initial exchange of gunfire. New Jersey State PBA President Patrick Colligan, in a tweet Wednesday, called them "true heroes," and said they are expected to be released from the hospital.
Police have not said why Reese was being served the warrant.
Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com.
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