An armed man barricaded himself inside a Trenton, New Jersey home with a number of hostages Friday, and has not come out since.
Some say that there are children amongst the people being held in the house.
Police are still attempting to gain entry and release the hostages, in a standoff that has gone on for more than 15 hours, USA Today reported Saturday.
Det. Will Rodriguez of the Trenton Police Department said he and his unit hoped for a "peaceful ending.
"We're working on it and as soon as there's a peaceful ending to this we'll let everybody know what happened," he said.
Lt. Stephen Varn also did not comment extensively, declining to give details on how many hostages were inside, not their relationship to the armed man. He did say that negotiations began at around 5 a.m. local time Saturday.
The officials negotiating said their goal was to get the children out before the armed individual surrendered himself.
The incident began when police went to the home of a woman whose family had not heard from her in a few days.
The woman, named Carmen Kelly, was reportedly killed, according to her cousin, Ray Kelly. She had five children-four were in the house, Kelly said, including her two daughters, aged 17 and 14, a son in his early teens and a 4-year-old boy.
SWAT units, negotiators and specialized units are currently on-site, talking to the armed man. They hope to get him to exit the house without force.
Meanwhile, the entire neighborhood has been blocked off.
Reverend Gregory Noga spoke to USA Today at the nearby St. Mary Byzantine Catholic church. He said he went out of town on Friday and returned to find his house inaccessible.
"The police have the street blocked off," he said. "The hostage negotiators are trying to contact to get [the gunman] to release the children."
