A 10-year-old boy is being held hostage inside his Liberty Township home as a SWAT team tries to negotiate his release Saturday, according to Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones.
The gunman is barricaded with the child inside a vehicle in a garage of an apartment in the 7000 block of East Hamilton Place, he said.
The suspect has fired 20 to 30 shots at deputies since the situation started about 1 a.m. Authorities have not returned fire, according to the sheriff.
Sheriff Jones said that the gunman is no longer shooting at police. He believes that he has more ammunition inside with him, but would not elaborate on how much.
"He's not shooting at us so that's a positive thing, that's as positive as it is right now, we are talking with him, I don't know if we are negotiating with him but we are talking with him, but when he's not shooting at us that's a positive thing." Jones said in a media briefing at the scene.
Jones said police are working on getting relief for officers on the scene as well as setting up warming stations.
"It's harder to see, it gets colder, it's hard to walk, people inside are tired, the child is tired. There comes a point where we have to get warming stations, we have to feed people, we have to feed … people that are inside. We just keep waiting and talking." Jones said of conditions as the sun sets.
Jones said the child seems OK as they speak with the suspect, adding, "it's not good, we are in a bad situation right now. We are just going to try to wait it out and see if something changes."
The child's mother has spoken with police and they believe the gunman is a family friend. Once the suspect took the boy hostage, everyone fled the house, Jones said.
"He's still inside and he still has the 10-year-old boy with him. We've been very patient but there's a 10-year-old involved. He's got a 10-year-old in there as a hostage. We're trying to get the kid out, we're trying to end this and resolve this in a good way for everybody but right now he's got the 10-year-old in there so we're trying to negotiate still but it's a very hostile situation now. I can't say anything more than that."
Earlier Saturday, Jones said the gunman is not related to the boy.
The suspect began holding him hostage after an altercation inside the apartment.
The other people inside at the time fled and are safe. Investigators are talking with them.
"It's very tense. This a very fluid situation. There's been several rounds fired, at least 20 rounds, our vehicle's been hit and we think our robot's been hit," Jones said.
A SWAT team has been communicating with the man and boy on a megaphone. They heard the boy's voice and the man's voice.
"He's very cautious of us. We didn't start this. It started with an altercation inside the house," Jones said.
"We're just trying to get it resolved and get the child out of there, get (the suspect) out of there. The boy seems fine at this time. Communication is a good thing."
Residents in the immediate area have been safely evacuated.
Liberty Township is located about 40 minutes north of downtown Cincinnati.
Enquirer media partner Fox19 provided this report.