Two dead at scene of North Union hostage situation
Ed Riedmann
State police found two people dead in a North Union Township apartment following reports of a hostage situation, according to Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele.
Police were called to Woodview Terrace around 8 a.m. Wednesday after a resident of the apartment building found a note in an outside pavilion that read “call cops hostage situation 706 do not approach, door 50 gallons of gas and a gun.”
Aubele, who declined to identify the two people who died, said some residents were evacuated from Woodview Terrace as the police presence in the area grew.
Before finding the bodies, police had filed kidnapping and arson charges against Charles James Nara, 36, of North Union Township, in connection to the alleged hostage situation.
Police said the note had been left on a table in the pavilion by the toddler son of Megan Kulenovic. The child told others his mother was in Nara’s apartment. A complaint filed in the case also indicated that witnesses reported hearing a loud “boom” and then seeing smoke coming out of Nara’s window.
According to Aubele, the 700 building at Woodview Terrace is likely uninhabitable due to the fire in Nara’s apartment.
Investigators were still at the scene late Friday afternoon.
As a precaution, nearby Marshall Elementary School in the Laurel Highlands School District was locked down during the situation, according to the school’s Facebook page.