Father holding baby hostage shot dead by SWAT team
MIDDLETOWN, N.J. -- A New Jersey man who was holding his 17-month-old son hostage was fatally shot by a member of the Monmouth County, N.J., SWAT team, reports CBS New York.
The child's mother called police around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night. She said 39-year-old Scott McAllister was intoxicated, had beaten her and was threatening to harm their child with a knife, according to a statement released by the office of New Jersey Attorney General John Jay Hoffman.
When police arrived, the mother of the child had fled from the house, officials said.
McAllister was locked inside his Middletown home with the boy and refused to allow police to enter, according to police. Hostage negotiators tried for hours to get McAllister to turn over his child.
The negotiations ended around 4:30 a.m., when the county SWAT team forced its way in and an officer shot McAllister.
The identity of the officer who shot McAllister has not yet been released and authorities have not said how many times McAllister was shot.
McAllister's son, who was near him according to police, was not harmed.
Neighbors, many of whom were outside during the shooting, told CBS New York that McAllister was a fisherman, but few knew other details about him.
The state Attorney General's Shooting Response Team -- which looks into shootings involving state troopers and emergency response personnel -- is investigating the shooting to determine if it was justified.