Officials: Hallucinating NJ Man Arrested After Calling Police, Shooting Up House
ABSECON, N.J. (CBS) – Officials say an Atlantic County man who called police Sunday morning is now in custody.
The incident began at about 4:30 a.m. at a home in the 100 block of East Lisbon Avenue in Absecon.
According to officials, the man called police because he feared there were several intruders in his home.
Authorities say the man stated he had fired shots through the walls of his bedroom while trying to defend himself from the supposed intruders. He then jumped from a second story bathroom window and ran to a neighbor's house for help.
Allegedly, the caller found the resident sleeping on a couch, but believed the resident had been killed by the same intruders in his own home when he couldn't wake the resident up.
Police say the man then broke a second story window in his neighbor's home, jumped into a backyard pool to escape and then hid in another neighbor's garage until surrendering to police.
Officials say they called in several different agencies, including the bomb squad, to assist them.
"I opened the door and there were cops all around the place. And they said 'get back in the house, turn the lights off and get all the way in the back of your house,'" a neighbor explained.
Police say some neighbors were evacuated for a short period of time during the incident as a safety precaution.
Investigators say around 20 shots were fired inside the caller's home, which appeared to all be from the caller, and no armed suspects were found.
"He was believed to be hallucinating and thinking someone was after him," said Absecon Police Chief David Risley.
Police say the caller was taken to the hospital for a back injury sustained when jumping from his second-story window and charges against him are pending.
