According to the Berrien Springs Oronoko Township Police, officers were dispatched to a house in the 8000 block of Grove Street at 6:57 p.m. in reference to a suicidal male subject who reportedly had a long gun and had already discharged two rounds. The officers were advised by the caller that the subject would shoot anyone including the police that tried to help him.

Shortly after officers from the mentioned agencies arrived on scene and were working to establish a perimeter to secure the area, they located the callers and got them to safety.

During this time the subject in question left his house and walked with no firearms into Grove Street; he was taken into custody by patrol officers at that time with some minor resistance.

Officers made entry into the house to ensure there was no one inside hurt or any other subjects involved. While doing so two closed canisters containing hazardous materials labels for military ordinance were observed just outside the residence.

The marking on the closed containers indicated the contents could be very volatile, causing explosion and vigorous fire.

Officers immediately secured the area, evacuated the homes on Grove Street and had JN Andrews Boulevard and Garland Avenue closed by campus security.

An emergency shelter was opened at the Andrews University Campus Center for those being displaced.

While this was taking place the Berrien County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad was activated and responded to the scene along with the Berrien Springs Oronoko Fire, which staged on each end of the containment area, allowing it to use its rescue/command vehicle for a command post.

As officers obtained a search warrant to re-enter the house to search and secure any evidence and look for explosive material, the bomb squad began working on identifying the two containers outside to see what, if anything, was in them and what should have been in them.

Ultimately it turned out the canisters were empty and have initially been identified as a British military type of ordinance. The ordinance has not been located.

Two firearms were located in the residence along with ammunition but no explosive devices or material was found.

To describe this house as one that would commonly be referred to as a “hoarder” made the search and investigation much more difficult.

The subject in question was admitted into the Riverwood facility at Lakeland Hospital in St. Joseph.

The report will be turned over to the Berrien County prosecutor for review for possible criminal charges.

The property has been sealed by police as a crime scene for further investigation.

The investigation is continuing.