BUFFALO, N.Y. — Part of the I-90 East and West were closed for several hours Wednesday due to a police incident. Several miles of both the I-90 East and I-90 West were closed around 9:44 a.m. and reopened before 1 p.m., according to NITTEC.
State Police tell 2 On Your Side they were looking for a vehicle suspected in a menacing incident involving a shotgun. Troopers found and pulled over the suspect vehicle shortly after 9:30 a.m. on the thruway in the Town of Hanover.
Two troopers were hurt in the confrontation that ensued while taking the suspect into custody and were transported for treatment.
Several weapons and a suspicious package were found in the vehicle and the State Police Bomb Disposal Unit was called to the scene to deal with them.
NYSP Trooper James O'Callaghan told us a small pipe bomb was found in the man's truck. The man lives in WNY, but police haven't released his name yet. He is in custody.
One of the Troopers has several cuts. Another has a broken hand.
"When he confronted that trooper, he did not have a weapon in his hand. So, he just walked up to the car, but obviously very aggressively. Once the trooper gave him commands, he did not comply, and that's when they started fighting, and then once that started, another trooper arrived at the scene," says O'Callaghan.
Trooper O'Callaghan says they were tipped off after someone driving on the 90 saw the man brandish a gun and called 911.
"It was random. So this, this other operator on the roadway did not know this person. It was a totally random thing. Luckily, no one was injured at that time. We were able to apprehend him and come to a conclusion here safely without loss of life because obviously, with the things that he has in his car, it could have been a very different outcome," says O'Callaghan.
No one else was in the truck with the suspect.