Suspect In Custody After Standoff In Rockland

ROCKLAND (CBS) – A SWAT standoff ended peacefully outside a home on Chestnut Circle in Rockland Friday night.

Police say the suspect, Richard Braikie, suffers with mental health issues, and had been drinking when he fired his gun in his home.

The bullet went through the wall to the outside and a neighbor says it went right over his head.

"I heard a firecracker, and then I heard like a zing right across my head," said Vern Johnson, who was out walking his dogs in his typically quiet 55+ neighborhood.

"I said that wasn't a firecracker that was a bullet."

A bullet that came from the home where Braikie then barricaded himself inside as police and the SWAT team arrived.

"In conversations with the suspect and his family members, he told them on a number of occasions that he would shoot the first police officer that he saw," said Rockland Police Chief John Llewellyn.

Police say Braikie may have been shooting at his son.

"A lot going on in his life, so we took his threat as very serious and credible," said Llewellyn.

After being convinced by a family member over the phone, he eventually surrendered peacefully and was taken for a psych evaluation. When State Police searched his home, they found potential bomb-making materials.

Police later announced they charged Braikie with attempted murder, possession of a large capacity firearm, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, fire-armed assault in a dwelling, possession of ammunition without an FID card, and disorderly conduct.