Teh One Who Knocks
12-19-2011, 03:24 PM
Police report is just false alarm
By Charlie Specht - Buffalo News Staff Reporter
http://i.imgur.com/CVLcN.jpg
It was the hostage situation that wasn't.
An otherwise sleepy Town of Tonawanda street was on full alert Sunday morning after Tonawanda SWAT Team members descended on a Findlay Avenue home for a report of an armed gunman possibly holding his mother and girlfriend hostage.
But as police called for backup, and hostage negotiators repeatedly called for him to come outside, the reported gunman was sleeping soundly, he later told police.
"It was just a guy who had too much to drink," said Capt. Jonathan W. Scott. "We thought there was a hostage situation in there, and it turns out there wasn't."
Police responded to 138 Findlay at 5:45 a.m. after the man's mother called to report her intoxicated son causing a disturbance. When police arrived, the woman told police her son was armed, police said.
The SWAT team was summoned when the man did not respond to police calls to contact him. About a dozen SWAT Team members remained stationed at the home for most of the morning, with negotiators attempting to contact the man using a bullhorn.
"They wanted him to come to the window and give them a sign that he was OK," a neighbor said.
One 84-year-old neighbor was whisked into her basement as sharpshooters set up rifles in her living room and kitchen, pointed at the home where hostages were believed to be held.
"I've been here 43 years, and I've never seen anything like this," said the woman, who was fearful and did want to be identified even after the situation was resolved. "They set up their machines with their big guns and scopes. I didn't have time to think, because they told me to go into the basement."
Police blocked off traffic on the streets surrounding Findlay, a cross street that lies between Colvin and Parker boulevards off Sheridan Drive.
"It's definitely a serious situation," said one Tonawanda police officer at the scene.
But the tension quickly dissolved when the man walked out the front door, hands behind his head, and surrendered without incident to police at about 10:45 a.m.
He later said that -- as police tried to contact him by cellphone -- he was taking a nap.
"It turned out not to be a hostage situation," Scott said.
The man, who served in the Marine Corps, had rifles and swords in his room, though he did not use them in the incident. Police said the weapons did not appear to be connected to his military service.
Tonawanda police declined to name the man, and his age was unavailable, they said. He was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief and taken to Erie County Medical Center for a mental examination.
No one was injured in the incident.
"He's a very nice young man," another neighbor said. "He's serving in Iraq. They're very nice people."
By Charlie Specht - Buffalo News Staff Reporter
http://i.imgur.com/CVLcN.jpg
It was the hostage situation that wasn't.
An otherwise sleepy Town of Tonawanda street was on full alert Sunday morning after Tonawanda SWAT Team members descended on a Findlay Avenue home for a report of an armed gunman possibly holding his mother and girlfriend hostage.
But as police called for backup, and hostage negotiators repeatedly called for him to come outside, the reported gunman was sleeping soundly, he later told police.
"It was just a guy who had too much to drink," said Capt. Jonathan W. Scott. "We thought there was a hostage situation in there, and it turns out there wasn't."
Police responded to 138 Findlay at 5:45 a.m. after the man's mother called to report her intoxicated son causing a disturbance. When police arrived, the woman told police her son was armed, police said.
The SWAT team was summoned when the man did not respond to police calls to contact him. About a dozen SWAT Team members remained stationed at the home for most of the morning, with negotiators attempting to contact the man using a bullhorn.
"They wanted him to come to the window and give them a sign that he was OK," a neighbor said.
One 84-year-old neighbor was whisked into her basement as sharpshooters set up rifles in her living room and kitchen, pointed at the home where hostages were believed to be held.
"I've been here 43 years, and I've never seen anything like this," said the woman, who was fearful and did want to be identified even after the situation was resolved. "They set up their machines with their big guns and scopes. I didn't have time to think, because they told me to go into the basement."
Police blocked off traffic on the streets surrounding Findlay, a cross street that lies between Colvin and Parker boulevards off Sheridan Drive.
"It's definitely a serious situation," said one Tonawanda police officer at the scene.
But the tension quickly dissolved when the man walked out the front door, hands behind his head, and surrendered without incident to police at about 10:45 a.m.
He later said that -- as police tried to contact him by cellphone -- he was taking a nap.
"It turned out not to be a hostage situation," Scott said.
The man, who served in the Marine Corps, had rifles and swords in his room, though he did not use them in the incident. Police said the weapons did not appear to be connected to his military service.
Tonawanda police declined to name the man, and his age was unavailable, they said. He was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief and taken to Erie County Medical Center for a mental examination.
No one was injured in the incident.
"He's a very nice young man," another neighbor said. "He's serving in Iraq. They're very nice people."