Man, woman found dead at Fayette County hostage situation

NORTH UNION TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A man and woman were found dead at a reported hostage situation in Fayette County.

The public was asked to avoid an apartment building in North Union Township all day Wednesday due to an active police incident that, according to court documents, was a hostage situation.

The Pennsylvania State Police told Channel 11 on Wednesday morning that there was an “extremely active scene” at Woodview Terrace. Troopers were called to the area at 8:07 a.m.

Two people were found dead in an apartment. Fayette County Coroner Bob Baker identified them as Megan Kulenovic, 27, and Charles Nara, 36, both of Uniontown.

“When police got there, they found smoke coming out of the apartment. Based on that and the info contained in the note, it led to us treating this as an active hostage,” Fayette County district attorney Michael Aubele told Channel 11.

A criminal complaint Channel 11 obtained alleges Nara was holding a woman hostage in an apartment on Wednesday.

The complaint states the child of the woman being held in the apartment had a note that said in part, “Call cops hostage situation... do not approach door 50 gallons of gas and a gun.”

Nara even reportedly yelled out the window of the apartment at the child, “This isn’t a ... joke, did you see the letter, call the police.”

“Mr. Nara has been a subject of previous investigations, including the sexual assault of a child. There was a response here earlier in the week. The police are very familiar with him,” Aubele added.

When the child went to report the note at the apartment’s front office, they heard a boom and saw black smoke coming from Nara’s apartment. Police also viewed surveillance footage that shows a “large plume of smoke” pouring from the window.

People who live in Woodview Terrace were evacuated from their homes on Wednesday morning. Around 2 p.m., some tenants were able to go back home, but those who cannot are receiving assistance from the Red Cross.

Marshall Elementary School in the Laurel Highlands School District was on lockdown as a precaution because of the situation. The school posted on Facebook saying, “Our building is secure, our students are safe, we will push out info as we get it.”

Channel 11 reached out to the Uniontown Area School District, which is also on lockdown due to the situation. Officials from the district said state police are at the scene of a high-risk situation and that the decision to go on lockdown came from the school’s proximity to Woodview Terrace.

The lockdown was put in place out of an abundance of caution, district officials said.

“Any incident of this nature is very disturbing, and we’re gonna have a long investigation ahead of us. We will do everything we can to get to the bottom of this. Any loss of life is tragic to us,” Aubele said.

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