Police said a 40-year-old man held police at bay for more than 4 hours during an armed stand off in Norwood on Tuesday, June 16. Residents say that East Mosholu Parkway was shut down to vehicular and pedestrian traffic from Bainbridge Avenue to Webster Avenue for the duration of the stand off.

 

Shortly after the incident had been deemed under control, a police spokesperson confirmed details of the stand off, telling Norwood News that officers from the 52nd Precinct were called to 3039 Perry Avenue at 11.24 a.m. on Tuesday. The apartment in question is located at the side entrance to 309 East Mosholu Parkway North.

 

The spokesperson added, “There was a 40-year-old male inside there possessing a firearm. Officers arrived on the scene and he was taken into custody without incident.”

Asked if an initial report from residents that the man was holding a woman hostage was correct, the spokesperson replied, “No, sir.” Norwood News asked about another claim by residents that the man claimed to have explosives. The spokesperson said, “No explosives and nothing else” that was illegal was found inside the apartment.

 

A male resident in his late 40s from Norwood who is not a resident of the impacted building and who declined to be identified, later told Norwood News how he had accidentally walked into the crime scene during the stand off and that an officer initially swore at him and said, “You don’t see there’s a hostage situation going on?” The resident said that, to his knowledge, that particular section wasn’t cordoned off.

The resident continued, “I turned my back and they already had the yellow tape all the way from Bainbridge Avenue to Perry [Avenue], and all the way down to the [52nd] Precinct” on Webster Avenue. He added that the vehicle and pedestrian traffic was shut down for four blocks along East Mosholu Parkway North.

 

The same resident said that other residents of the block he spoke to claimed the man in question was a former veteran in the military who suffered from PTSD. He then described what he, himself, heard and witnessed at the scene. Referring the armed man, he said, “He screamed out the window [that] he had his wife hostage and he had a lot of guns, and he wasn’t coming out and then, the big black truck came and ripped off the first apartment door on Perry. They ripped it off with, I call it, the tank.” The resident explained that the armed man’s apartment door opens directly onto the street.

The resident added, “They kept calling his name, ‘David! Come out! We just want to talk to you!” The resident also alleged that a plains clothes officer on scene allegedly told him, “The guy is in there. We don’t want to hurt him. He’s an Army veteran and he’s holding his wife hostage. Supposedly, he’s got a lot of guns and grenades.”

 

As reported, in December 2022, the NYPD’s bomb squad had been called to the nearby Williamsbridge Oval park in Norwood after a grenade was found in the park. Another grenade was found in the Edenwald section of the borough the same month. More recently, in March 2025, the NYPD bomb squad were also called to a Bedford Park residential home to remove weapons.

With his view obstructed by police vehicles, the same resident said at one point, he heard a crowd of other residents applauding at about 3.30 p.m., the approximate when the armed man was brought out of the apartment by police officers. The resident went on to day he was later told by other residents that police fired tear gas into the apartment and were able to subdue the armed man.

 

The resident concluded, “The police all had riot helmets on and had big guns.” He said along with 52nd Precinct police presence at the scene, additional police cars along East Mosholu Parkway North were from the 46th, 47th, and 50th Precincts.

When contacted by telephone on Wednesday, June 17, a female resident of the Perry Avenue building said of the stand off, “I only saw it, but I don’t know what happened to be honest.” She added, “No one told us.” Asked if she was prevented from getting in or out of the building on the day, she said, “They prevented us from exiting the building or exiting or entering the area to protect the residents, because they wouldn’t let anyone into the surrounding area.”

 

The woman added that she was only delayed 20 minutes, but was unaware of how long the stand off lasted. Asked if she knew the man who was inside the apartment, she said, “I have no idea to be honest. I thought that apartment was empty. I didn’t even know that somebody was living there.”

Another male resident of the building later recalled being at work at the time the stand off unfolded and saw alerts about it on the Citizens App. Asked if he was surprised by what he saw, he said, “Yes, especially being at work at the time. I was worried about my family, sure. They were all good, but it was scary.”

 

The same male resident of the building said many other residents of his building had been referrals by third party entities like homeless shelters, and that many of the building’s residents live with mental illness to his knowledge and in his opinion.

 

The male resident added, “I’m pretty sure he was one of them with a mental illness if he had a gun or whatever weapon they said it was. I don’t know how he would acquire it with his illness.” When informed of the earlier [as yet unverified] claims that the man was allegedly a former member of the U.S. Military, the resident added, “Yeah, that makes a little bit more sense.”

 

Other sources in Norwood recounted seeing police outside the same apartment all night and into Wednesday afternoon, June 17.

 

When Norwood News asked police if the initial reports from residents were correct that the man was holding a woman hostage, the official said, “No sir.” We also asked about another claim by residents that the man claimed to have explosives. The official said, “No explosives and nothing else” illegal was found inside the apartment.

 

As reported, a few days prior to the stand off, on Friday, June 7, a bomb threat had been phoned into nearby Bronx High School of Science in Bedford Park, and on the same day as the stand off, an emotionally disturbed person picked up a knife inside nearby Montefiore Medical Center’s ER in Norwood. Both incidents reportedly resulted in zero injuries.

On Sunday, May 24, Norwood News had reported that a patient was transported to North Central Bronx hospital after a hostage / barricade situation at Norwood’s Putnam Place.

 

After citywide crime statistics for May were recently released, as reported, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch noted that overall citywide major crime is down, and the new Patrol Borough Bronx South command similarly saw a decrease in year-to-date index crimes in May. However, conversely, much of the Northwest Bronx, including the 52nd, 50th and 46th Precincts saw a rise in year-to-date crime in several major categories.

 

As reported, Norwood News asked the commissioner during a press conference held Monday, June 15, if she had any comments in that regard. “The crime declines that we have seen generally, in the borough of the Bronx, particularly in the South Bronx, have really been historic across the borough so far this year,” Tisch said in part. “Of course, there are always going to be problem areas, problem precincts, and that’s why we use the CompStat process (NYPD crime data collection tool), and we do deployments of officers to places where we’re seeing crime go up.”

 

Under the recently implemented Patrol Borough Bronx North (PBXN) structure and Patrol Borough Bronx South (PBXN) structure, each command will have the same number of employees, as reported. In each new borough command, in the Patrol section, there will be a total of 111 employees, comprising 99 uniformed personnel and 12 civilian employees.

 

Meanwhile, in the Detective section, in each new borough command, there will be a total of 164 employees, comprising 154 uniformed personnel and 10 civilian employees. This means a total employee count in each new borough command of 275 employees, comprising 253 uniformed personnel and 22 civilian employees.

 

As reported in 2022, around two and half hours after students and teachers were evacuated from The Bronx’s P.S. 20 in Norwood on March 4, 2022, due to a bomb threat, the building was, thankfully, declared clear by police and safe for reentry. However, according to some P.S. 20 staff members, the incident served to highlight what some said was a dysfunctional environment at the school, especially given an apparent delay with the initial evacuation.

 

More recently, in March 2025, the bomb squad were also called to a Bedford Park residential home to remove weapons.

The police commissioner testified earlier this year at a City Council budget hearing about security in New York City generally in light of many additional, high profile security events taking place this summer in and around the city. These include the Knicks ticker tape parade on Thursday, June 18, which caps their recent NBA championship win, the FIFA World Cup, and potentially Taylor Swift’s wedding.

 

Earlier this year, two people were arrested at Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s residence, on March 7 and remain in custody, following the discovery of some explosive devices, one of which ignited. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating the matter with the NYPD and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. They said the public can report any additional information to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or submitting a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

 

As reported in 2022, the VA issued a reminder that all veterans who need mental help support can call the National Veterans Crisis Helpline number at 988.

 

Read some prior coverage on prior legislative actions taken by former U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), who represented parts of The Bronx and Westchester Counties on veteran mental health here.

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.