Five people being held hostage in an apartment on South Street were rescued by city police SWAT officers early Saturday morning, authorities said.
City police seized an assault rifle from the house and arrested one man, who allegedly held the victims — including the man’s girlfriend — against their will, Newark (NJ) Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said.
Newark police responded to the incident on the 200 block of South Street about 2:45 a.m. after receiving a call of several people being held hostage, Ambrose said.
After a four-hour standoff with police, officers entered the building after using pepper spray. They apprehended the suspect, 32-year-old Yucef Shabazz Rogers of Newark, without incident, Ambrose said.
The three adult females and two males being held hostage were then released, Ambrose said. One of the hostages was Rogers’ girlfriend and another was a 14-year-old male, he said.
There were no reported injuries in the incident that police say appears to be domestic related.
Officers recovered a loaded AK-47 assault weapon in the apartment, the city’s top cop said.
Ambrose said Rogers fired one shot before police arrived. That round landed in a wall and did not injure anyone, he said. He said investigators do not know what weapon was used to fire that round. Police are seeking a search warrant to find what they believe was a second weapon, he said.
Rogers will be charged with “a host of criminal charges,” Ambrose said, including possession of the assault weapon.