A report of shots fired toward homes on Washington Street in Butler sent police racing to the scene at roughly 2:51 a.m. on Sunday, triggering a search that lasted 1 hour and 49 minutes and ended with a suspect in handcuffs just before 5 a.m. No injuries were reported, and officials said there was no known threat to the public once the person was taken into custody.
Responding officers saw the person flee into a wooded area near the homes, according to WRNJ Radio, which prompted a response from the Morris County Sheriff's Emergency Response Team to help track the person down. While the search was underway, officers also made contact with a resident inside one of the homes and safely escorted that person out of the area, the outlet reported.
Resident Reports Home Struck by Gunfire
A separate account published while the search was still active offered additional detail about what prompted the response. According to RLS Media, a resident reported that his home had been struck by gunfire, though the homeowner was not reported injured. That report described the person being sought as a man believed to be in his 30s, last seen entering the wooded area while carrying what was described as a shotgun.
At the point RLS Media published its account, it remained unclear whether the suspect had been located.
Suspect Taken Into Custody Before Dawn
By approximately 4:40 a.m., authorities said the individual had been taken into custody, according to the WRNJ report. The person's identity has not been released, and the incident remains under investigation, leaving unanswered questions about what led to the shots being fired and what, if any, charges might follow.
Butler has seen armed confrontations involving police before. A separate case detailed by Morristown Criminal Law described an incident at a Belleview Terrace home in which an officer shot a suspect four times after the suspect allegedly pointed a shotgun at the officer. And in 2020, a Washington Township man was arrested after firing a shotgun at or toward officers who had responded to his Rock Road home for a welfare check, a case detailed by Patch. Investigators in that case found additional weapons, including an assault firearm and large-capacity magazines, along with a suspected controlled dangerous substance, and the man faced weapons and drug charges, including aggravated assault.
No such details about weapons, charges, or a motive have been confirmed in Sunday's Washington Street incident. For now, Butler police and the Morris County Sheriff's Office have not released the name of the person taken into custody, and residents are left waiting for updates as the investigation continues.
