A Pittsburgh grandfather who fought Pittsburgh police over his impending house eviction was confirmed dead this afternoon after a six-hour gun battle that saw more than 100 shots fired.
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Bill Hardison is identified as Pittsburgh active shooter: Sister of 'Sovereign Citizen' squatter armed to the teeth says he's a veteran after he fired 1,000 rounds from inside barricaded house
- Residents have been told to avoid 4800 block of Broad Street and N. Mathilda Street in the Garfield, Pittsburgh
- Sheriff's deputies were attempting to serve an eviction notice - but when they approached the property, the occupant opened fire
UPDATED: 16:57 EDT, 23 August 2023
A Pittsburgh grandfather is holed up in the home he was about to be evicted from and fighting a gun battle against police that has seen more than 1,000 shots fired.
A police source named the man as William Bill Hardison, 62, according to WPXI-TV, while relatives said the house on Broad Street in Garfield had been owned by his recently deceased brother.
Multiple SWAT teams are still surrounding the scene and tear gas has repeatedly been fired into the home since Hardison barricaded himself inside at around 11am after police tried to serve him an eviction notice.
Shortly after 4.40pm CBS reported that a drone found the gunman 'prone' and bloody after flying around the house.
The President is being briefed on updates from the scene and a woman identifying herself as the man's sister offered herself as a go-between - but was turned away by police who warned that the gunman might not recognize her amid the chaos.
'He's a good man, he's just lost his brother and he was in the service,' the woman shouted at reporters.
Multiple SWAT teams are at the scene on 4800 block of Broad Street and N. Mathilda Street in Garfield, Pittsburgh. The gunman barricaded himself in a house after police tried to serve him an eviction notice around 11am
Speculation mounted that the man might be dead after no shots were fired for an hour, and police prepared a remote-controlled armored digger to break into the house.
'Sovereign citizens' do not believe they are bound by federal or state law, or have to comply with any type of law enforcement.
Many often do not believe that they are required to pay taxes either. The FBI considers the group to be an extremist organization.
Well-known members include Terry Nichols, the Oklahoma City bomber.
In 2010, two sovereign citizens shot and killed two police officers after being pulled over in Arkansas.
'Sovereign citizens do not represent an anarchist group, nor are they a militia, although they sometimes use or buy illegal weapons. Rather, they operate as individuals without established leadership and only come together in loosely affiliated groups to train, help each other with paperwork, or socialize and talk about their ideology,' a 2011 FBI paper on the group reads.
Many do not think they are bound by taxes, so often do not pay those.
'They often will not pay taxes; that is pretty standard across the board, many will not pay their car registration, they won't get car insurance, they don't get licenses of any kind,' Rachel Goldwasser of the Southern Poverty Law Center told FOX News.
The movement is based on a decades old conspiracy theory that the government was replaced secretly, and that the real government follows admiralty law.
But shortly after 3pm the shooting resumed and TV crews were ordered out of the area.
Family member Marlene Jones told CBS that his brother had left the home to Hardison, but that his mental health had been deteriorating for a year.
'He just got worse and worse,' she explained.
'If they'd just let me or his girlfriend Karen go down there.
'She is preparing for the worst, she said "I think they're going to kill him".
'Whatever was in his mind told him he didn’t have to pay rent.
'He was a jokester he was like a teddy bear, he would make you laugh.
'You would be afraid of him but he was a teddy bear.
Another family member said they had no idea what was going on but would have offered him a room if he needed a place to stay.
But neighbors described him as violent and said he boarded up the home's windows with large 'do not disturb' signs, WPXI reported.
After the brother's death the property went to a tax sale, and now has a new owner, but the squatter has still refused to vacate.
One police source said the gunman identifies as a 'sovereign citizen', an anti-government extremist, WPXI reported.
The attorney for the new homeowners told CBS officers were warned the squatter was heavily armed and the issue of evicting him would be volatile.
Witnesses said that after banging on the door, police used a sledgehammer to get inside. It was at this point that the gunfire started.
The ordeal descended into a gunfight, and 'hundreds' of rounds were fired.
Police stormed at one point to within yards of the gunman's house to pull an immediate neighbor to safety.
Video shows SWAT teams firing on the house to give cover for the officers who raced in and dragged he neighbor into an armor-plated vehicle on the 4800 block of Broad Street and N. Mathilda Street.
Two police drones, which were deployed to circle the home to provide assistance and knowledge to the teams on the ground, were also shot down by the suspect.
People living on the 4800 block of Broad St have been told to stay in place, call 911, and wait to be evacuated by officers.
Police gave the urgent warning this morning: 'This is an extremely active situation with shots continuing to be fired. Please avoid the area at this time.'
Heavy police presence on scene during shootout in Pittsburgh
Witnesses said that after banging on the door, police used a sledgehammer to get inside. It was at this point that the gunfire started
An Allegheny County Police SWAT vehicle responds to gunfire
Some of the deputies have run out of ammunition, according to initial reports. Others have been injured during the stand-off situation.
Around a dozen Pittsburgh SWAT officers were seen arriving at the scene, gearing up to confront the gunman.
One deputy was 'pinned down' in a defensive position during the assault. He was saved by a member of the SWAT team, CBS reported.
The ordeal is taking place not far from St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery and UPMC Children's Hospital.
Videos taken at the scene showed multiple police cars surrounding the residential street, while at least 20 gunshots were fired in the background.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, one neighbor said he heard hundreds of rounds when the shooting started - and there have been hundreds more rounds since.
Sheriff's deputies were attempting to serve an eviction notice. The man's relatives owned the home, and when they died, he refused to leave. The property went to a tax sale, and now has a new owner. But the squatter still refused to vacate
Residents have been told to avoid 4800 block of Broad Street and N. Mathilda Street in the Garfield, Pittsburgh
He immediately hit the ground in his living room as police told people to keep away from windows.
Chris Wilkinson, who is visiting family in the area, told CBS: 'In the beginning, all we heard was the cops. They were banging on the door where the shooting takes place.
'They were banging on it telling him they were there. And after a couple of minutes of them doing it, they started to kick down the door, but after a few tries they couldn't do it.
'Then, they got a sledgehammer and took down the door, and after that shots started to be fired. I've been really nervous and it's really sad what's happening.
'You think you can be safe here but you can't with what's happening.'
SWAT are now going door to door to evacuate everyone on the street.
Neighborhood Academy School has gone into lockdown. West Penn Hospital is under a partial lockdown.
Leslie Thompson, who lives in the house across the street from the commotion: 'It's unbelievable. I'm very nervous. Shots were ringing out everywhere.'
Thompson, who was working from home at the time, told CBS that she ran to the basement when she started hearing the ordeal outside her window.
She was screaming and crying while on the phone to her manager - and her home was also breached by gunfire.
The initial gunfire is seen producing smoke on the right side of this front door footage
Video taken at the scene showed multiple police cars surrounding the residential street, while at least 15 gunshots were fired in the background. Police gave the urgent warning this morning: 'This is an extremely active situation with shots continuing to be fired. Please avoid the area at this time'
The witness said that the gunshots came through her window in her living room and her bathroom - which is now riddled with bullet holes.
Glass is shattered everywhere in her home, she said.
'Trying to get to the basement was almost unbearable, shots were ringing out everywhere.'
Thompson was evacuated from her home by police.
She said it's by the 'grace of God' that she is alive.
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