No Injuries or Hostages Reported in Bernardsville Standoff

There were no injuries and no hostages during , including SWAT team members, the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office said Friday.

The man, whose identity has not been released, barricaded himself in a home on Anderson Hill Road Thursday night. A portion of that main artery between Old Army Road and Seney Drive was evacuated and closed off while the incident unfolded.

After the incident started shortly before 7 p.m., when Bernardsville police arrived, it was unknown to authorities whether the man was alone inside the home.

The situation ended without a major incident that was visible from a block away. Teams of SWAT members, including the Somerset County SWAT team, the Somerset County Sheriff's Office and other police agencies began leaving the area right after 10 p.m.

Evacuated residents, some of whom were standing behind police barricades and apparently waiting either for information or to return home, were allowed to return to the evacuated area when most of the authorities had left.

"There is no cause for alarm—the citizens are secure," Bernardsville Police Chief Kevin Valentine said at borough police headquarters at about 11 p.m. At that time, he announced, "We have one suspect in custody." 

Valentine said further information would come from the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office.

Residents who were evacuated were able to go to stay, or just to register as a checkpoint for further information, at the Bernardsville Library at 1 Anderson Hill Road. The librarians, who stayed late, are part of the borough's trained Community Emergency Response Team.

During the evening, as the library's usual closing time of 9 p.m. approached, Bernardsville Librarian Pat Kennedy-Grant said some library staff members had just undergone additional CERT training that day.