TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WIVB) – Tuesday morning a community is trying to answer a lot of questions. Their neighbor threatened to kill, and burned his home to the ground. The bizarre incident rocked the quiet little neighborhood in the Town of Tonawanda. Nearby residents were left wondering just what happened after the fire broke out and a short time later they were were warned to head for shelter.
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Town of Tonawanda Police Lieutenant Nick Bado said, “From the initial call, it sounded like he was just determined to die today one way or another, gave her that indication and gave her the opportunity to leave the home what it sounded like."
It was just after 9 a.m. Monday when Town of Tonawanda Police were called by a distraught girlfriend. Bado said, “She was stating 'He's going to kill me. He's got a gun."
He, was 60-year-old Joe Hollywood. Police responded to the burning home in full force on Fries Road near Eggert Road.
Neighborhood resident Jason Conkling said, “They all had guns drawn, there were probably 20 cops at least, if not more.”
His girlfriend did get out unharmed, but the hours that followed affected the entire neighborhood. Police used the reverse 9-1-1 system to call neighbors.
Neighborhood resident Tammy McAndrew said, "Area residents if you live within a quarter of a mile of 163 Fries, report to your basements until further notice."
Even six hours after the fire began, police had indication that Hollywood may have fled to a nearby home on Mayfield Avenue, and the SWAT team searched that home as well. Local schools were told to keep children for an hour after dismissal, until the neighborhood was safe, but shortly before 5 p.m. investigators found the body of Joe Hollywood in the basement of his burned out home.
Hollywood’s birth name was Joe Bryniarski. He was a graduate of Kenmore East High School.