Photo: Massachusetts State Police
An overnight standoff involving Massachusetts State Police and "several heavily armed men" resulted in the arrest of 11 individuals.
CNN reports the incident began with a police traffic stop, which eventually led to the shutdown of part of Interstate 95 and a shelter-in-place order being issued for the surrounding area, authorities confirmed.
The suspects were wearing what Massachusetts State Police Col. Christopher Mason described as tactical vests and military style uniforms, which also included body cameras and were carrying several firearms including long rifles and pistols.
Mason said the suspects indicated that they were traveling from Rhode Island for "training" at the time of the police stop.
The standoff began at around 1:30 a.m., when a trooper saw two vehicles traveling in the breakdown lane with their hazard lights on.
Mason said the men claimed to be "from a group that does not recognize our laws" in a statement from the Wakefield Police Department.
A responding trooper requested driver's and firearms licenses from the individuals, who either said they didn't have them or didn't have them in their possession.
At some point during the interaction, one of the suspects ran into the woods with their firearms, leading to police establishing a perimeter and the initial two arrests in the woodline, including one individual who was armed.
Massachusetts State Police provided several updates of the then-ongoing incident on Twitter, which included an update at around 5:30 a.m. confirming members of the group were "refusing to comply with orders to provide their information and put down their weapons.
"Through our hostage negotiation team, we are talking with the subjects -- some that are in the woods, some that are in the vehicles in the breakdown lane where the original interaction occurred -- and we are hopeful that we are able to resolve this peacefully with them," Mason said during the standoff.
Among the 11 individuals eventually arrested, two of the men were spotted inside their vehicles, state police confirmed.
The self-professed leader of the group reiterated to police that their ideology was not anti-government, according to Mason.
"I think the investigation that follows from this interaction will provide us more insight into what their motivation, what their ideology is ... Their actions have had a significant impact on the motoring public, particularly because it's a holiday weekend," Mason said.
Residents in the areas of Wakefield and Reading were urged to shelter as the standoff continued and the order has since been lifted.