A 15-hour standoff between law enforcement and a knife-wielding suspect in Passaic county prompted the response of a SWAT team and the use of a chemical agent to force his surrender, officials said.
Authorities were called to the residence in Wayne on Preakness Avenue to investigate reports of a man, since identified as Thomas Pfefferkorn, who was expressing “suicidal thoughts,” Wayne Police Public Information Officer, Detective Captain Dan Daly told TAPinto.
When they arrived on the scene just after 6 p.m., first responders were initially met by Pfefferkorn’s father, then Pfefferkorn, who was wielding a “large knife” that he “waved” at responding officers.
“He closed the door and ran away before appearing again in an upstairs window, tapping the knife against the glass,” said Daly. “Officers immediately called for backup, set up a perimeter and closed Preakness Avenue.”
At that point, the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team and a crisis intervention team and paramedics from St. Joseph’s Health were called to the home. Both agencies spent the next 15 hours trying to negotiate with Pfefferkorn and coax him back outside to no avail.
When Pfefferkorn stopped communicating, the SWAT team deployed gas. He was taken into custody shortly thereafter and “transported to a medical facility for evaluation,” Daly said.
A subsequent search of the house turned up “multiple firearms” and “illegal high-capacity magazines” even though Pfefferkorn’s father told police that there were no guns at the residence. Pfefferkorn was arrested and charged with “possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and being a certain person not to possess weapons,” police said.
“Based on the gravity of the situation, I’m very happy that everyone came out without any injuries because this could have turned into something much worse,” Wayne Mayor Chris Vergano said. “’I’m very proud of our Police Department, and how they handled the situation.”
