JOPLIN, Mo. — Two people are in custody after a search warrant leads to a brief standoff with special response teams.

Around 11 a.m., members of the Ozark Drug Enforcement Team and the Joplin Police Department served a narcotics search warrant at a home near 8th and Moffet Avenue.

Investigators say the occupants initially refused to come out, so the SWAT team shot chemical gas inside. That’s when police say the two occupants ran out the back of the house.

Officers arrested Nathan Spencer on suspicion of weapons and drug paraphernalia possession, and Jessica Vankirk for alleged possession of drug paraphernalia. They were taken to the Joplin City Jail.

Police say two handguns were found inside the home and more charges could be coming.

Spencer was convicted in 2012 in Newton County on two counts of first degree assault and armed criminal action for shooting a man multiple times.

That shooting, which happened in 2010, was the result of a dispute over street racing. Spencer was sentenced to 13 years in prison on both counts of first degree assault and five years for armed criminal action. He was released from prison in 2021.