UPDATE (ROCKLAND) —  A Rockport man remains at the Knox County Jail after he allegedly barricaded himself inside an apartment and threatened to kill a woman early Wednesday morning, Oct. 21.

Mark Hupper, 35, will appear in Knox County Court on Friday, Oct. 23. He is charged with kidnapping, domestic violence assault, and creating a police standoff.

According to the affidavit filed in court by Rockland Police Detective Alex Gaylor, police obtained a search warrant at 4:20 a.m. on Oct. 21, sworn over the phone with Justice Daniel Billings, to enter the apartment at the Rankin Center. While police were drafting the warrant, Hupper told law enforcement officers that he was going to slit the throat of the woman and also use her as a barricade if they tried to enter the residence.

Police said that it sounded like Hupper was also barricading the door with objects.

Hupper claimed he had a firearm, later identified as a .40 caliber gun, and would allegedly kill anyone who tried to enter the apartment, according to the affidavit.

Before the standoff, he had posted on Facebook that he would end up in jail or dead, the affidavit stated.

ROCKLAND — A Rockport man is in Knox County jail today after allegedly breaking into an apartment at the Rankin Center, in Rockland, early Wednesday morning, Oct. 21, resulting in a police standoff that lasted several hours.

Mark Hupper, 35, of Rockport, is being held on charges of Class A Kidnapping, Domestic Violence Assault, and creating a police standoff.

At approximately 1:14 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 21, Rockland police were informed of Hupper’s whereabouts at the residential facility on the corner of Main, Rankin, and North Main streets. Along with the on-duty police officers, additional off duty police were called in to assist. The State Police tactical team and crisis negotiation team also responded, as did the on-duty Fire and EMS crew and multiple call-shift members. 

Upon police arrival, the fourth and fifth floors of the building were evacuated. All disrupted residents found their own temporary accommodations, according to Rockland Police Sgt. Ken Smith, though the police had options in place for anyone in need of assistance.

The kidnapping charge stems from the fifth floor apartment being occupied at the time of break-in, police said. One person was inside the apartment at the time, police said.

The fire and EMS personnel blocked off the streets around the Rankin Center, allowing northbound Route 1 traffic to continue up Main Street, but diverting southbound traffic up North Main. Public Works members brought in additional traffic cones around 5:30 a.m.

“The tactical team had come in,” said Smith, “so we created a safe area for them. Depending on how things go, we want to make sure that everybody is safe.”

No injuries were reported, according to Smith.

Hupper was arrested just after 6 a.m., and taken for a medical assessment at Pen Bay Medical Center before being taken to jail. 

Reach Sarah Thompson and Sarah Shepherd at news@penbaypilot.com