Mar 14, 2007 By Josh Krysak 3 min read

A 53-year-old Phillips man armed with a high-powered rifle surrendered to police Tuesday afternoon after he held dozens of state police troopers at bay when he barricaded himself in his home. At 5:30 p.m., William Rhoderick of 28 Hickory St. exited his home and was immediately taken into custody by Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) personnel who had surrounded the area.

More than a dozen marked state police cruisers, two-dozen unmarked cars and two emergency response trucks lined roads in Phillips and the northbound lane of Route 51, as police cordoned off several streets in the small town during the standoff.

State troopers with shotguns and SERT personnel in fatigues carrying shields and automatic weapons stalked around neighboring homes, as other troopers watched the home from a distance with binoculars.

At several points, police could be heard addressing neighbors with a megaphone warning them to stay inside their homes.

State police Cpl. Jeff Fisher said following an evaluation at the Uniontown Hospital, Rhoderick will be charged with simple assault and recklessly endangering another person and added he could face additional charges.

Fisher said that police specialists and one of Rhoderick’s sons were able to talk the man from the home after he barricaded himself for more than 5 hours.

Fisher said that Rhoderick had been having “some mental issues,” when he decided to barricade himself.

“This is exactly what we want to have happen in this situation,” Fisher said following the standoff. “Everyone did exactly what needed to be done. We set up an interior and exterior perimeter and no one was hurt.”

Fisher said the standoff began around noon and said that Rhoderick’s wife, Ida Rhoderick, was initially in the home but was able to escape unharmed with police assistance soon after the incident began Tuesday.

Rhoderick’s son, James Rhoderick, 21, who lives in the home, said his father – a Vietnam Veteran – has been struggling with marital problems over the last few years and had recently threatened to kill himself.

James Rhoderick said that he got a call at work today that his father had barricaded himself and his mother in the house and that he was talking about killing himself.

“When I got here he was in the house with my mom holding a deer rifle to his chin,” James Rhoderick said.

James Rhoderick said his brother, who was not identified, was able to escape immediately from the home unharmed.

He said that police used a telephone diversion to help his mother escape the home, allegedly telling Ida Rhoderick to give a phone to her husband and then run from the house.

James said his father, who is on disability, has been struggling with personal problems throughout James’ life and that he has been in and out of mental hospitals over the last two decades.

“When he is OK, he is a great guy,” James said. “We are kind of close but he won’t talk to me or anybody. I have never seen him like this before.”