Shelter-in-Place Lifted After Armed Suspect Flees South Fillmore Ave Home in Mason City

MASON CITY, Iowa — A shelter-in-place order was issued for part of a South Fillmore Avenue neighborhood early Thursday after a man was reported to have threatened another man with a firearm and then barricaded inside a nearby home, according to the Mason City Police Department.

Officers were dispatched to the 400 block of South Fillmore Avenue at 5:13 a.m. Thursday on a report of a male subject being threatened by another male subject with a firearm, Mason City Police Chief Mike McKelvey said in a news release.

Upon arrival, officers learned the suspect had fled into a residence at 419 South Fillmore Ave., according to the release. Officers surrounded the home and requested assistance from the North Central Iowa Narcotics Task Force Special Operations Group. The Iowa State Patrol also assisted at the scene.

Police activated a shelter-in-place order for surrounding neighbors as a precautionary measure, the release said.

Four people eventually exited the residence, but the suspect was not among them, according to police. Officers then entered the home with a search warrant but did not find the suspect, who had apparently fled before officers arrived.

McKelvey said the investigation is continuing but that there is no immediate threat to the public, characterizing the incident as an argument between the suspect and the home’s occupants.