NEW CHARGES FILED AGAINST NEW KEN STANDOFF SUSPECT

New charges have been filed against a man involved in a standoff with police in New Kensington.  The Trib reports that New Kensington police withdrew previous charges filed against 26-year-old Burnell Johnson, including simple assault, resisting arrest and obstruction, but he now faces two counts of prohibited possession of a firearm and risking a catastrophe, all felonies, and a misdemeanor charge of obstruction after being found with two loaded handguns.  It’s also believed that he tried to blow up the house with a natural gas explosion in the incident in December of last year.  A preliminary hearing on the new charges is scheduled for Jan. 30.