Parents outraged after armed police surround house near children at bus stop

Some parents are outraged after they say police had guns drawn surrounding a house just feet away from where children were waiting to be picked up by a school bus.

Annie Brown was trying to drop her children off at the bus stop on Mohawk Avenue and Comanche Court in Northeast Columbia, but was too afraid to leave them because the house right across the street was being surrounded by police early Thursday morning.

“The kids got out for the bus and there was polices with big guns everywhere while the kids were playing in the street! And they didn’t tell them to go inside the house,” Brown said.

Brown said she felt like the street should have been closed off to prevent anyone from going near in case the situation turned for the worse.

“What if someone was hiding somewhere in the dark ready to shoot and we were still out there?” she asked.

Brown told ABC 17 News she felt like police didn’t follow proper protocol to keep residents safe, and other neighbors agreed. Several of them called ABC 17 to express their concern.

“If they’re going to come out here and conduct business, at least seal off the street so kids are safe,” Brown said.

Right now, the police still haven’t said why they surrounded the house, but the people that live inside told ABC 17 News it was all just a misunderstanding. They said someone allegedly heard gunshots and called 911, but the woman living there said no one shot a gun. She did say someone was taken into custody but wouldn’t say why.