A barricade situation on Little Hayden Circle has come to an end.

Police were seen leading a man from the house and placing him in a police car.

The situation ended just after 3 p.m., more than three hours after it began.

Hagerstown Police Chief Arthur Smith said the man had minor injuries. He said no officers were hurt.

Police and the Washington County Special Response Team had gone to the Cortland Manor private community off Leitersburg Pike, where a man had barricaded himself inside a home, Smith said earlier.

The man was alone inside the home, said city spokeswoman Erin Wolfe.

Smith said earlier that the man, who was believed to be despondent, had a gun and that several shots had been fired.

Several people who were in the neighborhood when the incident began at about 11:30 a.m. reported hearing what they thought were gunshots.

Wolfe said that when officers went to the area after receiving a report of shots fired, they went to neighbors of the house on Little Hayden Circle, knocked on doors and asked them to leave the area, she said.

Police with rifles and wearing camouflage fatigues were at the scene and were staged inside the development at 1:30 p.m.

Washington County Sheriff Doug Mullendore is also at the scene. Two officers are wearing black T-shirts with the word "Negotiator" lettered in white.

At least a dozen emergency vehicles are in the neighborhood of the home, including the Hagerstown Police Mobile Command Center and a county Special Response Team truck.

Mel Harnish lives about 50 yards from the townhouse on Little Hayden Circle where the man was refusing to come out. He said he heard what sounded like a gunshot shortly after 11 a.m. and then a second noise at about 1:15 p.m. that sounded like a small explosion.

"The second shot, I’m not sure what it was," Harnish said.

Harnish said he was able to hear communication between the man and a police officer behind a large landscaping rock.

The man is in a house one unit from the end of a row of town homes, he said.

Police have been advising people to stay in their homes, Harnish said. "Everyone in Courtland Manor is kind of stuck here. We can’t get in or out of here."

Tom Snee from Washington, Pa., who was visiting his in-laws on Little Hayden Circle, said he was outside and heard what he thought were three shots. One of the shots sounded like it was from a high-powered, rifle, he said, and the other two sounded like they were from a smaller-caliber weapon.

"We were outside enjoying the nice day," Snee said. Then police came around and told them to go inside, as well as sending an automated call telling people to go inside and stay away from doors and windows.

"When you see this much activity you know it’s serious," Snee said.

Washington County Public Schools was holding bus students at Northern Middle, Pangborn Elementary and North Hagerstown High schools until police open up the neighborhood, school system spokeswoman Richard Wright said at about 2:30 p.m.

Parents and other emergency contacts for students were sent email and phone alerts notifying them of the situation, Wright said.