Police Fire Pepper Balls At Man Barricaded In JC Penney Fitting Room

WHEATON, MD — A man who barricaded himself inside a fitting room at a JC Penney store at Westfield Wheaton Mall Wednesday morning was taken into custody later in the day after a four-hour standoff, according to police.

SWAT officers fired pepper balls into the fitting room, where Christopher Lawrence, 37, was barricaded, police said. Lawrence was then apprehended at about 2:30 p.m. without injury, according to the Montgomery County Police Department.

After attempting to steal a watch from the JC Penney store, according to police, Lawrence barricaded himself inside the fitting room, armed with a knife.

Police officers were dispatched to the department store at about 10:30 a.m. Lawrence then threatened the officers with the knife when they arrived at the scene, police said.

Police then ordered the evacuation of the store to allow officers to manage the incident.

The Montgomery County Police Emergency Response Team and negotiators attempted to persuade Lawrence to leave the fitting room and turn himself in. After he didn’t leave on his own, the SWAT team deployed the pepper balls into the fitting room, leading to an end to the barricade situation, according to police.

Lawrence was evaluated at the scene by Montgomery County Fire Rescue and was taken to the Central Processing Unit, where he is expected to be charged with first-degree assault, police said.

No officers or store employees were injured during the incident. JC Penney was expected to remain closed for the rest of Wednesday.