While trying to negotiate with a man barricading himself in his home in North Haven Connecticut, a barn on the property exploded, causing a fire that eventually spread to the house. Police have confirmed that one dead body was found after the explosion, but have not released the identity of the person, reports the Hartford Courant.
Wednesday afternoon, the police initially responded to a call from a woman who had escaped to her neighbors and said her husband had been holding her hostage for days. She said she escaped before the explosion and sources said she was being treated at the hospital for what appeared to be domestic abuse injuries.
The standoff went on for several hours, but was interrupted when the barn exploded nearby. Several smaller explosions went off as the police continued trying to coax the man out of the house.
BREAKING: felt a large explosion during police standoff now a huge fire off Quinnipiac Ave in #NorthHaven. pic.twitter.com/LfTfuzAL1X
— Kevin Galliford (@KallMeKG) May 3, 2018
The blast also injured nine members of the regional SWAT team who had responded to the incident. None of the injuries were critical and all nine are recovering in Yale-New Haven Hospital.
The police have not disclosed the current state of the suspect, but Trooper Kelly Grant, a state police spokeswoman, said earlier Thursday morning she thought he was in the barn during the explosion, although an autopsy hasn’t been performed yet. The cause of the explosion isn’t totally clear yet either, but police are investigating the rubble this morning for clues.
Explosion then fire during North Haven stand-off. We’re on Quinnipiac Ave. #wfsb pic.twitter.com/iPt7FQSATV
— Matthew Campbell (@mgmcampbell) May 3, 2018
As of Thursday morning, the Deputy Chief of the North Haven Police Department said, “At this point, and this speaks again to the community as far as are they in any danger at this point, there’s still a lot of loose ends here, and we’re not going to take anything for granted.”