Middletown SWAT suspect accused of firing shots identified

A Middletown man has been charged for several offenses after he allegedly fired his weapon toward his father this morning.

Robert Hacker, 46, was charged with firing a weapon while intoxicated, weapons under disability, inducing panic, firing a weapon within city limits, and for several bench warrants, police said.

Hacker remains in the Middletown City Jail and will appear in Middletown Municipal Court on Friday, police said.

TRENDING: 911 call in Ross High School student shooting: ‘God, dear God’ 

Hacker allegedly fired three rounds in a house in the 3000 block of Yankee Road.

After police arrived, it took the SWAT team about 90 minutes to get Hacker to exit a home after officers responded on a report of a disturbance between a father and son, where shots were possibly fired, according to Middletown Police Chief Rodney Muterspaw.

The Middletown SWAT team “got the business done,” Muterspaw said a few minutes after Hacker was placed in the back of a police cruiser.

Officers responded to the home in the 3000 block of Yankee this afternoon after the father ran out of the house and called police, Muterspaw said.

Muterspaw said there were possibly three to four shots fired inside the house, but no one was injured.

Officers fired tear gas into the house and Hacker ran from the residence and that’s when members of the SWAT team took him into custody, police said. There also were Middletown K-9 officers at the scene.

Muterspaw called taking the suspect into custody without any shots being fired “the best case scenario.”

Police found several weapons inside the home, the chief said.

Muterspaw said police are always concerned for neighbor safety in these situations and they had concerns the suspect may come out and begin shooting.

Hacker received medical treatment on scene and was transported to the Middletown Police Department for questioning, the chief said.

About the Authors