Man facing attempted murder charge after he shot at SWAT officers in standoff in Hyannis, police say

HYANNIS, Mass. — A Massachusetts man is in custody on several charges after he barricaded himself in a home and shot at SWAT officers throughout an hourslong standoff that had prompted a shelter-in-place order for a Cape Cod neighborhood and surrounding schools, according to authorities.

Justin Moreira, 30, of Hyannis, was arrested Wednesday on several counts of attempted murder, as well as additional firearms charges, the Barnstable Police Department announced.

Barnstable police said officers responded to a home on St. Francis Circle in Hyannis shortly after 7:40 a.m., for reports of an adult man, later identified as Moreira, holding his mother at knifepoint.

As officers responded to the area, the caller told dispatchers that he and his mother, and another female, were able to barricade themselves in another room of the house. But he also said Moreira was still somewhere inside the home, which was the suspect’s residence.

Police said when officers arrived on scene they were able to safely evacuate the family out a window of the home and contain Moreira inside the house.

The family told officers that Moreira most likely had access to firearms inside, which prompted Barnstable police to call the Cape Cod Regional SWAT Team to the scene.

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Hyannis standoff

Barnstable High School, Barnstable Intermediate School, Hyannis West Elementary School, Enoch Cobb Early Learning Center, and the Barnstable Community Innovation School went into a “shelter in place/modified lockdown” as a precaution, a Barnstable Public Schools spokesperson said.

“No one is permitted into our schools or to exit them, but school operations within the building will continue,” the spokesperson said. “This is as a result of police activity in the Hyannis area.”

Shortly after unsuccessful attempts to get Moreira out of the house, he began firing on the SWAT team’s ballistic vehicle with a firearm. Fortunately, the vehicle protected the SWAT team members inside, as bullets ricocheted off the side of the armored truck, police said.

Negotiators and the police department’s mental health clinician tried to convince Moreira to come out of the home peacefully, but he refused and continued to periodically fire rifle and handgun rounds on the perimeter scene SWAT officers surrounding the house, according to police.

The Massachusetts State Police deployed a robotic dog inside the home in a further attempt to locate and convince Moreira to come out of the home, but he shot the robot and partially disabled it.

Throughout the day, Moreira continued to fire bullets at the SWAT personnel containing him in the St. Francis Circle home.

After seven hours of continual negotiations, Moreira still refused to come out of his home and the SWAT Team deployed a form of pepper spray into the home, but Moreira remained inside. Finally, a specialty ballistic vehicle with an attached demolition tool arrived on scene and was used to forcibly encourage Moreira to exit the residence. He was then taken into custody without injury by the SWAT Team.

Moreira is being held at the Barnstable Police Department. He is charged with several counts of attempted murder, as well as additional firearms charges.

He will be arraigned Thursday in Barnstable District Court.

Moreira was arrested and charged back in 2022 for making a serious threat to shoot up a school on Cape Cod. Prosecutors also detailed Moreira’s criminal past, including a federal conviction and prison time for an ATF case related to possession of a firearm and a suppressor.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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