Police: Ridgewood Man Barricaded Himself In His Home Saturday

A man who barricaded himself in his Ridgewood home told authorities he had a gun and bomb, authorities said.

The man, Richard Park, 22, went to a Palisades Park church Saturday where he talked to the pastor and made some “disturbing and alarming” statements, including mentioning the 1999 massacre of Columbine High School, Palisades Park Police Chief Benjamin Ramos told Cliffviewpilot.com Saturday.

Ramos allegedly asked the pastor if he was “prepared to die,” the website reported.

Authorities attempted to conduct a welfare check at Park’s Ridgewood apartment on South Maple Avenue and negotiators kept talking with him; Ridgewood and Glen Rock police, county SWAT, bomb squad officers, and firefighters were some of the 70 emergency personnel dispatched to thes scene, NorthJersey.com reported.

A Bergen County SWAT team spoke with Park until the complex was evacuated and officers quickly grabbed him when he looked out of his door at about 1:10 p.m., the website reported; Park was taken to Bergen Regional Medical Center; NorthJersey.com reported.

(Pictured: Photos of county police officers at the scene/Courtesy of Lewis Dickinson)