Man Barricaded Inside Newark Home Prompts Hours-Long Standoff, Mayor Says
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- An all-day standoff that started Thursday morning headed into the evening in Newark.
As CBS2's Maurice DuBois reports, authorities say it started when they tried to execute a search warrant. A man barricaded himself inside a home and neighbors had to be evacuated.
"A lot of sirens. A lot of police. A lot of ambulance. Just chaos," Newark resident Charlie Jackson said.
Essex County authorities blocked off a stretch of Clinton Place as negotiators tried to get a man barricaded inside a multi-family home to surrender.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka says around 6 a.m., the Essex County Task Force went to the house to serve a narcotics warrant. Shots were fired, but fortunately no one was hit. One man was taken into custody. The other barricaded himself.
"These are dangerous situations when you are executing a search warrant, a narcotics search warrant, particularly for people who don't want to go to jail. Things happen like this. Luckily our guys are trained," Baraka said.
Officers with large guns drawn led several people from the home to safety. One of them was a child who was carried away from the danger.
"Everybody was evacuated on the first and second floors. Homes that were around them were also evacuated," Baraka said.
Baraka says negotiators were in communication with the barricaded man, trying to talk him out of the situation.
"We'll wait it out until, prayerfully, ends with the person turning himself in," Baraka said.
Authorities say the man taken into custody was released and that no one in the area is in any danger from the standoff.
