NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - A tense weekend standoff in a South Trenton, New Jersey, neighborhood ended early on Sunday when police took a man into custody after he held several children hostage for about 36 hours.
"The hostage situation has been resolved," State Police Sergeant Adam Grossman told Reuters. "The children are safe."
Grossman said the suspect was taken into custody at 3:45 a.m. EDT (0745 GMT), but declined to comment on his identity or any other details of the standoff.
The man barricaded himself inside a house in the New Jersey state capital on Friday afternoon after police were called to do a wellness check on a resident at the address, a Trenton police spokesman said on Friday.
On Saturday, the Times of Trenton cited two unidentified law enforcement sources as saying police officers checking on the house had discovered the partially decomposed body of the man's girlfriend, but pulled back when they saw he had a gun.
The newspaper also reported that one of the woman's children was killed and that the man was holding three more of her children inside the house. A fifth child, age 19, was reportedly safe at another location with relatives.
State police said tactical units, including hostage negotiators, canine units and SWAT teams, were on the scene. Federal investigators and hostage negotiators were assisting state police, according to the FBI.
Grossman said additional information would be released at a news conference in Trenton at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT).
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