BRANFORD, Conn. (AP) — A man who fired numerous gunshots Tuesday from a building in Connecticut as police surrounded the property was found dead inside, police said.
Police said the man holed up in a building on Main Street in Branford, a New Haven suburb. One person was reported injured.
Officers were called to the scene on a report of shots fired shortly after 12 p.m. EDT and encountered heavy gunfire coming from the upper floors of a building that has a hair salon on the first floor, Branford police said.
911 callers reported a gunshot victim, who was taken to a hospital with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening, authorities said.
More than four hours after the gunfire began, Branford police said on their Facebook page they were continuing “to work towards a peaceful resolution” and asked people to stay away, saying the area still wasn’t safe.
A later post on the page said the suspect was found dead inside the building and the area was secured.
Several nearby businesses and homes were evacuated, and a ramp of Interstate 95 was closed.
“We heard the popping, we heard some banging, and just locked everything down,” Charles Steinberg, who owns a nearby jewelry store, told WTNH-TV.
Resident Brian Choronzy told WTNH-TV he heard gunshots, “and they just continued increasing in frequency.”
He said police arrived and initially told people to lock their doors and stay inside, but later, officers took up a position on his front lawn and asked him and his roommate if they would be willing to leave, which they did.
Officials said officers initially were pinned down until armored vehicles arrived.
Officers from several surrounding towns joined Branford and state police in responding to the scene.
One witness, Steve Milano, told The Hartford Courant it seemed like hundreds of shots had been fired from shortly before noon to about 2:30 p.m. Milano, manager of Richlin Home and Auto across the street, said the person was firing indiscriminately, and shot at police when they arrived.
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