Gunman shot after taking women hostage at UPS facility

A gun-wielding man burst into a New Jersey UPS facility Monday morning, opened fire and took two women — including one with whom he had a relationship — hostage before he was shot and the victims freed, officials said.

The gunman entered the UPS Mail Innovations on Birch Creek Road in Logan Township, Gloucester County, around 8:30 a.m., pistol-whipped a security guard and fired shots into the ceiling before taking the women hostage, a worker told NBC 10.

The hostages were the suspect’s ex-girlfriend and her friend, according to Gail Wright, 57, a cousin of the gunman.

Authorities did not release the gunman’s identity.

The suspect grabbed one of the women, put a gun to her head and shouted, “I am not going to jail, but I will kill you,” according to NBC 10.

The incident, which took place about 20 miles south of Philadelphia, was “resolved” minutes after noon when authorities were forced to intervene.

The gunman was shot, apprehended and taken to an area hospital after a nearly four-hour standoff, said Gloucester County Prosecutor Charles Fiore, noting that “the extent of his injuries are unknown.”

Fiore added that the women were “OK” and that “there were no injuries from a law enforcement standpoint.”

“There was an intervention,” Fiore said. “He did not surrender.”

Fiore could not confirm how many shots were fired or how authorities were able to capture the gunman.

Authorities initially swarmed the scene following reports of an active shooter.

“It was a barricaded situation with a gentleman and two young ladies that were taken essentially hostage,” Fiore said.

Fiore noted that the women were working a shift at the facility when they were taken hostage.

Authorities and hostage negotiators had been communicating with the gunman by phone before they entered the area where the hostages were taken.

After the gunman stormed the facility, the building was evacuated and all remaining employees got out safely, authorities said.

Fiore could not confirm that someone was pistol-whipped and said earlier that “no one was injured.”

Wright, a resident of Barrington, NJ, said she lives with the suspect’s mother and when he didn’t show up Monday morning like he usually does, “I knew something was wrong.”

“This is not him to do this,” Wright said of her cousin. “I don’t believe he got up this morning ready to take somebody hostage or kill anyone.”

“He’s a good guy. He’s very intelligent. He just had a stroke of bad luck at times,” said Wright. “I was very shocked. This is out of his character.”

The suspect currently lives with another woman, according to Wright.

“I hope my cousin pulls through,” she said.

UPS said in a statement earlier: “UPS is working with law enforcement as they respond to an active shooter situation at one of the company’s supply chain processing facilities in Logan Township, New Jersey. We cannot provide information about the identity of people involved at this time.”

Schools in the Logan Township School District were placed on a “modified” lockdown as a precaution as the situation unfolded.