NORTH HAVEN, Connecticut (24/7 NewsSource/WBZ-AM) -- Authorities in North Haven say nine officers are injured Thursday morning after a hostage situation ended in an explosion.
According to police, a man held his wife hostage inside of a home on Quinnipiac Avenue for several days.
The suspect then barricaded himself inside a nearby barn after the woman escaped and called police.
Connecticut State Trooper Kelly Grant said in a press conference that there is still a lot of work to do to determine exactly what happened inside the home and barn.
"Basically, this is like a puzzle," she said. "You're gonna take all these little pieces, you're gonna speak to victims, you're gonna speak to witnesses, you're gonna speak to any potential witnesses, and you're gonna put all this together along with the evidence to come to one conclusion."
First Selectman Michael Freda told WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Ben Parker that authorities were only alerted to the hostage situation Wednesday afternoon.
"We didn't realize this until a call came in late yesterday afternoon," "Our SWAT team in town, along with a regional, collaborative SWAT team that we have with various police agencies across the region tried to compassionately and patiently coax him out of his home unsuccessfully."
The explosion happened Wednesday night, leveling the barn and injuring the officers. All of the officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries are expected to recover.
"The barn--the fire has been put out, but there's a lot of smoke in the area right now, and it is right now considered a crime scene," Freda said.
Freda said there was no previous indication of problems in the suspect's home.
"He had not to our knowledge been a problem in town," he said. "But this is a story that sometimes happens in our communities--that what government doesn't know is what goes on inside the four walls of someone's home with the anxiety, the turmoil, the acrimony, and perhaps even the mental illnesses that may exist out there that trigger and precipitate these kinds of incidents."
Police have not said anything about the condition of the suspect.
"He is still unaccounted for," Freda said.
North Haven Police said on their Facebook page that Quinnipiac Avenue remained closed.
The quiet town of 25,000 sits about 25 miles south of Hartford.
Freda said the federal government and State Police would be taking over the investigation.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Ben Parker reports