PITTSBURGH—A retired Pittsburgh firefighter has been taken for a mental health evaluation after a three-hour standoff that began when neighbors reported he was shooting a gun into trees near his home.

Police now believe that 40-year-old Marc Vrane may have been using a pellet gun, not a rifle, but they couldn't be sure of that when they responded to his home about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday.

Police say Vrane refused to surrender when police and SWAT members arrived. The standoff finally ended when police played a recorded message from his mother over a loud speaker about 12:30 a.m.

Vrane told police he was angry that neighbors called the police on him. He has an arrest record for allegedly assaulting paramedics and a police officer who came to treat him for an apparent overdose last year.