An armed woman barricaded herself inside a car in Alexandria, Virginia, for over a day as her standoff with police kept part of a major highway shut down.
Fairfax County police said in its latest update to the standoff around 12:15 p.m. Wednesday that “the situation remains unchanged.” Police said previously that “we continue to work to peacefully resolve this situation.”
A stretch of U.S. Route 1 between Lockheed Boulevard and Boswell Avenue was closed after 11 a.m. Tuesday. Drivers were advised to avoid the area.
Crisis negotiators and a mental health clinician continued to speak with the woman, who police identified as a missing person. Police believe the woman barricading herself is a missing Maryland woman found Tuesday morning.
Authorities said they found 25-year-old Lauren Kingsbury of Laurel outside a motel on the highway when police were called to do a wellness check in the area.
“When we responded there, there was a woman who said she had been abducted and the suspect vehicle had just fled. So we began searching the area, and that’s when one of our officers found the vehicle, and it led to a pursuit and ended here,” Lt. James Curry told local NBC affiliate WRC-TV.
Lt. Curry said the woman “did display a firearm to the officers” during the initial traffic stop before she fled and began her barricade inside her black SUV.
