Man had violated PFA and taken weapons before incident led to the lockdown of the area: Police

Police have released further details on the arrest of a 52-year-old man in Halifax Township that brought an entire neighborhood to a standstill on Thursday.

Halifax resident Shawn Vann was charged with trespassing late Thursday night, just hours after state police issued a warning to avoid the area around Elmer Avenue in the Halifax Village mobile home park.

A woman came to the Pennsylvania State Police Lykens Station Wednesday morning and said her boyfriend, Vann, had several guns, including an AR-15, according to a probable cause affidavit.

A Protection from Abuse (PFA) order issued against Vann prohibits him from possessing weapons. He had previously surrendered the weapons to the York County Sheriff’s Office. After he surrendered the weapons, they were turned over to the woman’s brother, who placed them in a storage unit, court documents say.

The woman told police Vann had retrieved the guns from storage last weekend and that she was afraid of him after his recent comments. Police issued her an emergency warrant Thursday morning, serving Vann with an order evicting him from the Elmer Avenue home where he lived with the woman.

About ten minutes later, several neighbors called police and said Vann was trying to break into the house. Police went back to Elmer Avenue but were unable to find him, although they saw one of Vann’s boots and a rifle magazine inside and found that an air conditioning unit had been ripped out of a window. Police said Vann took weapons from the house.

The state police special operations team and flight unit were dispatched and searched the home and a nearby barn. Residents were asked to avoid the area. Vann was found at a nearby campground after running away, police confirmed around 7 p.m. Thursday.

State police said Vann is in the Dauphin County Jail on a trespassing charge. Police said they plan to file additional charges.