By: Tracie Carter
Authorities are continuing to investigate an hours-long SWAT standoff in Secaucus that ended with a man in custody and a Hudson County Regional SWAT officer suffering non-life-threatening injuries Wednesday.
According to information released by Secaucus Police and additional published reports, the incident began at approximately 9:46 a.m. September 30 at the Plaza Gardens apartment complex, 1326 Paterson Plank Road.
Police identified the man as Sahil Ram. Authorities said New Jersey State Parole officers had gone to the location to execute an arrest warrant for an alleged parole violation when Ram barricaded himself inside an apartment.
Secaucus Police established a perimeter and command post before requesting assistance from the Hudson County Regional SWAT Team. A shelter-in-place order was also issued for the surrounding area as the situation continued.
Authorities said Ram armed himself with a knife and, during the standoff, allegedly made threats, displayed knives and threw knives from a second-floor window toward officers. Police said there were no hostages involved.
Negotiators spent several hours attempting to communicate with Ram and secure his surrender. After those efforts were unsuccessful, authorities said SWAT officers deployed gas into the apartment, eventually leading to his surrender.
Shortly before Ram was taken into custody, a Hudson County Regional SWAT member was reportedly struck with a blunt object. The officer suffered injuries described as non-life-threatening and EMS was requested.
Ram was taken into custody shortly before 4 p.m., bringing the roughly six-hour standoff to an end.
Firefighters were later requested at the location after an odor of gas was reported and to assist with securing utilities, according to preliminary incident information.