Hostage situation outside a US airport

New York, Aug 6: Police have rescued two people from a hostage situation in a US city, right outside the Newark International Airport. The suspect was still inside the building, local media report.

Swat teams have surrounded the building at 451 Frelinghuysen Avenue. It is listed as an address of several manufacturing and shipping companies, and is about a block away from the Newark-Liberty International Airport transit station in New Jersey.

Video from the scene showed a Bearcat armored vehicle parked behind the building, with armored SWAT team members taking an African-American man into custody.

A major hub for United Airlines, Newark Liberty (EWR) is the second-busiest airport in the New York City area, serving 37.5 million passengers in 2015.

Police was called in around 1 p.m., after reports of a "person with a gun" inside the building. Two people were evacuated by police, WABC reports, noting that they were the new owners of the building who were apparently confronted by a squatter armed with a shotgun.

IANS