FORT MILL, S.C. — The York County SWAT team evacuated an apartment building Friday afternoon to arrest a suspect who barricaded himself in an apartment with a teenage girl.
Antwan McCorkle was wanted in connection with armed robberies in Charlotte. Charlotte police tracked McCorkle down at the Palmetto Place apartment complex in Fort Mill, but he refused to come out of a second-story apartment.
Police considered McCorkle armed and dangerous. They said he was locked in an apartment with a teenage resident.
"It was terrifying," said resident Crystal Banks. "They actually evacuated this building when it was going on. And they put a ladder up, too, so that they could get into the apartment."
Neighbors told Eyewitness News they heard a loud boom, perhaps a flash-bang grenade, moments before the SWAT team rushed inside the apartment. Police aren't saying what they threw into the apartment before going inside.
"It sounded like a big firecracker. It was pretty scary, but exciting at the same time," said 16-year-old Eddie Byrams.
Officers helped the teenage girl escape through a window and then escorted her down a ladder.
"More than anything, I was just very worried for the kids. There are a lot of kids in this neighborhood," Banks said.
Residents said they're thankful the SWAT team made the arrest, and that no one was injured.
McCorkle wasn't yet booked into the Mecklenburg County Jail on Friday evening.