Kulpmont stand-off 5/8/2023

Last night just after 730 local fire police were alerted to shut down Chesnut street / Route 61 at PSP’s request.

PSP was responding to a domestic with reports of shots fired and unknown if the subject was still inside on their arrival.

Police attempted to use a bull horn to try and contact the suspect while receiving no response.

Around midnight Pennsylvania State Police SERT (Special Emergency Response Team) began to arrive. They once again tried to make contact.

K9 arrived from the Erie area of the state along with 2 different kinds of armored vehicles from elsewhere.

After failing to make contact again SERT eventually entered the house and checked for the suspect who was found to have fled prior to police arrival.

Firefighters from Kulpmont Fire Department assisted on scene with lighting at one point followed by helping ventilate the other half of the structure before the street was reopened to the public just before 6am.

Brian Leyba , 42, was taken into custody later in the morning and appeared before Judge William Cole in Mount Carmel and jailed on $150,000 cash bail.

Brian claims this is a mistake and he did not do everything police accuse him of. Currently he faces charges for reckless endangerment, simple assault, discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure and terroristic threats with intent to terrorize.