Crime & Safety

Trenton Police Assist in Barricaded Gunman's Arrest

The Trenton Police Department sent a hostage negotiator and a member of a local SWAT team to Lincoln Park on Sept. 30 to assist in arresting a man barricaded in his house with a gun.

Trenton police officers assisted in the arrest of a man who allegedly barricaded himself in his house with a gun at about 3 p.m. Sept. 30 in the 1500 block of Cleophus in Lincoln Park.

The Trenton Police Department sent a hostage negotiator and a member of the Downriver Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team to help arrest Joseph Christner, 40, of Lincoln Park.

Police were initially called to the house about a domestic violence report after Christner allegedly assaulted his wife and his son, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.

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Christner, armed with a long gun, refused to surrender himself to police. A hostage negotiation team and SWAT team were sent to the house until he agreed to surrender himself at about 10:30 p.m., according to the office of the prosecutor.

Sgt. Mark Enright of the Trenton Police Department was a member of the hostage negotiation team that handled the situation. Enright said he and other members of the team drove a SWAT vehicle, similar to a tank, up to the house to talk to Christner.

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Enright said he spoke to Christner using a loud speaker, while looking through a plexiglass window from inside the vehicle. The team then drove the vehicle away from the house and about an hour later Christner surrendered.

Christner is charged with three counts of assault with intent to murder, four counts of felonious assault, one count of carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent, one count of felony firearm and one count aggravated domestic violence.

Christner was arraigned on Oct. 3 at the 25th District Court in Lincoln Park.

Police officers from departments across Downriver assisted in the arrest.


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