Oakland Park Boulevard in Wilton Manors reopens after SWAT response

A section in the 500 block of Oakland Park Boulevard was closed for hours Thursday afternoon as Wilton Manors Police and officers from other Broward County agencies respond to what appears to be a person barricaded inside of a business, according to a witness.

Wilton Manors Police said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly before 1:40 p.m. that Oakland Park Boulevard is closed in both directions between Andrews Avenue and Northwest Ninth Avenue. Officers cleared the scene and reopened the area to traffic shortly before 5:30 p.m.

The police department did not release any additional details as of 5:30 p.m.

Josh Gibson, manager at the Boynton Billiards store across the street from the active scene, said officers have been gathered outside the Dragon Lily Tattoo Shop, at 500 W. Oakland Park Blvd., since about 2 p.m. Another business separate from the tattoo shop is located inside the same building next door at 504 W. Oakland Park Blvd.

Gibson saw a SWAT officer standing through the port of the armored vehicle, rifle pointed at the door to the business next door to the tattoo shop. He saw the officers enter that part of the building shortly after 4 p.m. and deployed inside what appeared to Gibson to be gas canisters.

Before officers entered the building, Gibson said he heard an officer calling out a person’s name over a loudspeaker to communicate with the person inside.

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