(Kim Tunnicliffe/WBZ NewsRadio)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WBZ NewsRadio) — An armed home invasion in a Providence neighborhood led to an hours-long standoff and the closing of a nearby school Tuesday morning.
Around 1:15 a.m., someone was able to jump out of a window of a home on Norwich Avenue and called police to say three armed men had broken in.
"A 22-year-old jumped out the window and notified police, thankfully," said Providence Police Chief Hugh Clement. "We know there were weapons that were seen. Very tense, dangerous situation. We haven't seen one like this in years."
A couple and their eight-year-old son live in that home, and were taken hostage by the suspects after police showed up with guns drawn.
As the standoff unfolded, the nearby Robert Bailey Elementary School on Gordon Avenue was closed for the day, with officials citing the then-unspecified "ongoing public safety situation."
(Screenshot of Bailey Elementary School website Tuesday morning)
Nearby homes were also evacuated as SWAT teams and police negotiators arrived.
Police were able to negotiate a peaceful end to the standoff, first getting them to release the mother, and then the son and father. The family is now safe, and the three suspects are now in custody.
Clement said authorities are looking into the possibility this might be a case of the suspects going to the wrong house looking for drugs.
WBZ NewsRadio's Kim Tunnicliffe (@KimWBZ) reports