Details Released On Standoff With Suspect Whose Guns Were Seized

NORWALK, CT — A standoff on Friday between Norwalk police and the 52-year-old man who recently had his firearms confiscated, ended with the suspect in custody and no reported injuries, according to Norwalk Police Lt. Terrence Blake.

The incident began at 10:37 a.m. when officers were called to Creeping Hemlock Drive on a report of a "despondent male."

"The male, Joseph Sander, made threats to harm another individual within his residence," Blake wrote in a statement. "When officers arrived they observed a female victim on the front steps with Sander standing next to her with a knife. The female victim was able to escape without injury."

At that point when Sander saw the officers, he quickly returned to the house, which started the standoff, according to Blake.

The department deployed its Emergency Services Unit and Crisis Negotiators to the scene, and they made contact with Sander via telephone. They convinced him to surrender, and he was placed under arrest.

Earlier this month, Sander's 10 firearms were seized by Norwalk police after he made threats toward state Department of Health officials and Stamford Hospital hospital staffers, police officials said. He was not arrested at that time, and he had a valid permit for the weapons.

Norwalk police applied for the warrant to seize the weapons under the grounds of "Recent threats or acts of violence by such person toward himself/herself or others." Additionally, authorities stated that Sander had "A history of the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical force by such person against other persons."

On Friday, Creeping Hemlock Drive temporarily was closed to traffic during the standoff, which lasted a little over an hour.

Sander was charged with:

• First-degree reckless endangerment
• Second-degree threatening
• Disorderly conduct

He was held in lieu of bail of $250,000 and is scheduled to appear in Norwalk Superior Court on Sept. 30.