The Butler County Government Center was temporarily placed on lockdown Wednesday morning after a woman allegedly punched her husband’s ex-girlfriend following a child custody hearing.

Tiffiney Martin is charged with simple assault after she allegedly punched the woman in the face inside a jury assembly room adjacent to Courtroom 1 in the courthouse at about 9:45 a.m.

The victim was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital with injuries to her face.

Officials initially believed that Martin’s husband, Randy Martin, punched his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his 2-year-old child.

“The suspect was initially described as a large male,” said Sheriff Michael Slupe. “We went into lockdown because we didn’t think he had left the building.”

Sheriff’s deputies and county detectives, with the assistance of city police, did a floor-to-floor search of the county building.

“During the lockdown we checked the (video) footage and found that he (Randy Martin) had left through the front door,” Slupe said.

Martin left the building before the lockdown occurred.

The lockdown was lifted about 10:15 a.m.

However, when county detectives interviewed the victim and her 18-year-old daughter there were inconsistencies in their statements.

Detective Scott Roskovski said the victim believed her ex-boyfriend hit her, but added she couldn’t remember the incident because she “blacked out.”

Tiffiney Martin later admitted during a phone call with detectives that she was the one who punched the woman, Roskovski said.

He said the altercation was sparked when the victim allegedly called Martin a vulgar name during an argument over a child’s shoes, and Martin grabbed the victim, threw her against a wall and punched her multiple times.

Roskovski said Martin’s husband broke up the fight and they were then asked to leave the courthouse. That request, which the Martins followed, came before the lockdown was instituted, Roskovski said.

The room that the incident allegedly occurred in does not have video surveillance.

Slupe said he believes the incident marked the first time the government center was locked down during his six-year tenure.

He said incidents such as an assault are not common in the center, which is monitored by a number of sheriff’s deputies.