Cops: Man who held hostages in Freeport gives up

A man who told police he had a gun and was holding hostages in a unit of a large Freeport apartment building late Friday night surrendered about 12:30 a.m. Saturday, police said.

"Everybody's fine," said Kenneth Lack, Nassau police deputy inspector after the man, who allegedly had held his wife and their little girl, gave up.

No weapon was involved, Lack said. The police were still investigating whether anything criminal in nature had occurred, he added.

The incident began about 9:30 p.m. when Freeport police were joined by various Nassau County police special units that blocked off civilian vehicle and pedestrian traffic near 100 Brooklyn Ave.

Many of the 50 or more officers at the Ambassador apartments were armed with rifles and carried large exterior body armor shields.

By 11 p.m., officers had entered the building, but it was unclear whether they had gained access to the second-floor apartment where the man was believed to be.

The four-story apartment building is within short walking distance of Freeport Village Hall and Freeport police headquarters.

Lack said at an 11:30 p.m. news briefing near the apartment building that, about 9:30 p.m., Freeport police had received a 911 call about an emotionally disturbed man.

The county police negotiation team went to the building and tried to "talk him out of the apartment," Lack said.

Only apartments in the building "that were in danger or exposed to potential danger" were evacuated, Lack said.

In addition to police negotiators, Special Operations and Emergency Services officers along with at least two ambulances were nearby.

Aaron Donovan, a spokesman for the Long Island Rail Road said, "We had been halted between Freeport and Baldwin at the request of the Nassau police department."

He said 5 trains were impacted by the delays from the stoppage that began about midnight. Donovan said Nassau police allowed train traffic to resume about 12:30 a.m.