DATE: Monday, April 7, 1997                 TAG: 9704070088

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MATT DOLAN, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   32 lines

7-HOUR STANDOFF IN PORTSMOUTH ENDS PEACEFULLY WITH SURRENDER

A seven-hour standoff ended peacefully Sunday morning when a woman surrendered to police after allegedly firing shots into a Chesapeake home and then barricading herself in her Portsmouth apartment.

Police said Frances Michelle Smith, 29, of the 1700 block of Holladay Street was arrested around 9:15 a.m. and charged with brandishing a firearm and shooting into an occupied building.

Smith went to an apartment in the 100 block of Cedar Road around 9:10 p.m. Saturday in an attempt to retrieve her children. Police said she does not have legal custody of the children.

She allegedly fired shots from a .38-caliber handgun into the home when she could not take her children, and then left, police said.

When officers arrived at Smith's apartment in Portsmouth around 2 a.m. Sunday, she failed to answer the door. But police heard noise from inside. They believed she was there and that she was armed, said Chesapeake Police spokesman Richard Black.

Police evacuated the apartment below Smith's and blocked surrounding streets.

After several failed attempts at negotiating Smith's surrender over several hours, police slipped a small canister of tear gas under her front door and she gave up.

Smith, who was armed with a handgun, was being held at the city jail Sunday night, pending a hearing today. KEYWORDS: ARREST SHOOTING

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