Police: Subjects in Moore County standoff were asleep inside home

Authorities surrounded a home at 405 Pinehurst Street in Carthage at about 1:30 p.m. after receiving reports of shots being fired from the house.

After speaking with a person involved in the incident, police said an officer approached the home and knocked on the front door, but retreated when he heard what he believed to be gunfire from the back of the house.

Nearby homes were evacuated and the street was closed to traffic as authorities from the Sheriff’s Department Crises Negotiation Team and Special Response Team, as well as other local law enforcement surrounded the home.

Authorities said that repeated attempts to make contact with the occupants of the home went unanswered until 4 p.m., when negotiators made contact with a man inside the home via phone and convinced him to come out with his hands in the air.

A woman who was also inside the home exited behind the man.

Carthage Police Chief said that the man and woman said they were asleep and didn’t know officers were outside their home.

The incident was still under investigation Sunday evening