Police: One dead, one rescued after armed standoff
GUILFORD — One person was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and an individual being held was rescued after an armed standoff that lasted nearly 18 hours, according to officials on Thursday.
Guilford police said the standoff at a Fitch Hill Road home began Wednesday afternoon. Deputy Police Chief Christopher Massey said law enforcement personnel will remain at the scene Thursday morning for the ongoing investigation.
The incident brought out members of the South Central Regional SWAT team, officers from Madison, Branford, North Branford and East Haven police departments. A Connecticut State Police SWAT team was later called in after the standoff continued into the morning hours Thursday.
Police Chief Warren “Butch” Hyatt said the fire department responded to a 911 call for a structure fire on Durham Road around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. He said responding firefighters saw smoke coming from the structure and were confronted by a man with two long guns.
“The fire department kind of backed out of the scene and that male left the area in a vehicle,” Hyatt said during a Thursday morning press conference about the incident.
He said information went out to police officers, and the department got a phone call soon after from an individual reporting that the man was at an address on Fitch Hill
Road. Hyatt said one of the man's family members lives at the address.
Officers responded and tried to set up a dialogue with the man, but were unsuccessful. Soon after, the family member who lives at the address called police and reported the man was armed inside the home and that they were being held within the house.
The South Central Regional SWAT Team and a crisis negotiation team were brought in, and negotiations lasted nearly 18 hours, Hyatt said. During that time, he said, the negotiators tried to get the man to come out or to release the family member with him. Again, the chief said, that was unsuccessful.
The Connecticut State Police SWAT team replaced the South Central Regional team after they spent over 14 hours straight through the day and night negotiating.
Lt. Alex Giannone, the commanding officer of the Connecticut State Police Central District, said state police got there around 4:30 a.m. He said contact was never made with anyone inside the residence after state police took over. At one point while on scene, Giannone said members of the SWAT team heard a woman yelling in distress from inside the house.
Giannone said that's when members of the SWAT team switched over to a hostage rescue operation, and were able to safely rescue the woman.
Hyatt said police used a diversionary munitions, which make loud popping noises, to get inside the home after the yelling was heard. He said some nearby residents might have heard it and thought it was gunshots. He said no officers fired their weapons.
A man was found dead on the second floor of the home from an apparent gunshot wound, Giannone said. Hyatt said the state's chief medical examiner will determine a cause and manner of death, but said that initial investigation indicates the gunshot wound was self-inflicted. The individual's identity has not yet been released.
“Due to our relationship with the Guilford police department, the chief of police and the regional SWAT team, we believe this led to the best possible outcome,” Giannone said.
The victim rescued from the home was sent to the hospital for further medical evaluation, but authorities said she did not appear to have any injuries. Hyatt said the relationship between the victim rescued and the dead individual is unclear. He said it was a “close relationship.”
“I don't know what precipitated the fire on Wednesday, those are all things we are going to look into in the investigation… Some investigation has been done to date, but a much more thorough investigation will be continuing now,” Hyatt said.
Roads in the area remained closed Thursday morning, with Hemlock and Fitch Hill road closed and a stretch of Great Hill Road also shut down to traffic. Shortly before 8 a.m. Thursday, the roadways reopened and a shelter in place for nearby residents was lifted.