Police officers from at least three separate agencies surrounded the house of June Upchurch Sunday after a man with a high powered rifle was cornered in a nearby barn. The standoff lasted nearly four hours and ended with the surrender of Daniel T. McCarren of Ashville, NC.

The incident occurred on the State Garage Road about five miles northeast of Albany in the Upchurch Community. According to Clinton County Sheriff Rick Riddle, the chain of events that led to the standoff began when Deputy Sheriff Jim Guffey approached a suspect after being dispatched to the area to investigate a man who was in the road, naked.

“The call came in as a male standing outside his truck with a laptop, a candle burning and a rifle slung across his shoulder,” Riddle said. “That’s when they dispatched Jim (Guffey) and he made contact with him. Jim asked the man to put his gun down, so they could talk, the man raised (the gun) up at Jim and then turned around and took off towards the porch with his laptop.”

Riddle said they got the call at 11:58 a.m. on Sunday, July 3.

“When I saw him out there, when I pulled up on the scene, I started to get out and I said ‘Sir, I need you to lay your gun down,’” Guffey said. “I said ‘I need to talk to you.’”

Guffey said McCarren then pointed the gun at him and he started backing around his cruiser.

“I was just trying to talk to him while I got cover,” Guffey said. “As soon as I unsnapped my holster, that’s when he turned and ran up the hill. Just as soon as I told him to lay his gun down, that’s when he pointed it at my chest.”

Sheriff Riddle said Albany Police Department Officer Ricky Marcum was the second officer on the scene.

“That’s when we started getting other law enforcement officers out there,” Riddle said. “The Kentucky State Police, Albany Police Department and the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department pretty much had the entire place surrounded.”

Riddle said McCarren went from the front porch of Ms. June Upchurch’s residence to her garage. Riddle stated that McCarren was without clothes during the standoff.

“Ms. Upchurch was in the house, but she had all the doors locked. When he went into the garage, we got Ms. Upchurch out and got her to safety,” Riddle said. “I would say we stood there for probably four hours. It was right at four p.m. when we got him out. The state police talked to him through a P.A. system and he finally came out and gave himself up.”

After McCarren surrendered, he was arrested and charged with wanton endangerment of a police officer in the first degree, fleeing and evading on foot in the second degree, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and burglary in the first degree.

McCarren was taken to Clinton County Hospital where he was treated and released. He was then lodged in the Clinton County Jail.

McCarren had traveled from Wayne County prior to being held up in Upchurch’s garage.

“He had fled the location up there before they (Wayne County Police) could get there,” Guffey said.

Both Guffey and Riddle agreed it was a blessing the outcome turned out like it did.

“I know Ms. Upchurch was happy,” Guffey said. “She just kept thanking us and she said she couldn’t thank us enough.”

Nearly all officers in the sheriff’s department have been trained in rapid deployment techniques and Riddle noted that training proved extremely helpful during this last weekend’s incident.

Law enforcement officers from at least three separate agencies were on hand in the Upchurch Community of Clinton County Monday afternoon after a suspect pointed a rifle at Clinton County Deputy Sheriff Jim Guffey, then fled the scene, eventually barracading himself in a large barn. Above, offices used a Kentucky State Police cruiser as cover during the four-hour long standoff. Below, officers are shown gathered just moments after the suspect was arrested after being holed-up in a nearby barn.