"Tonawanda SWAT Team members descended on a Findlay Avenue home for a report of an armed gunman possibly holding his mother and girlfriend hostage.
But as police called for backup, and hostage negotiators repeatedly called for him to come outside, the reported gunman was sleeping soundly, he later told police.
"It was just a guy who had too much to drink," said Capt. Jonathan W. Scott. "We thought there was a hostage situation in there, and it turns out there wasn't."
But the tension quickly dissolved when the man walked out the front door, hands behind his head, and surrendered without incident to police at about 10:45 a.m.
He later said that -- as police tried to contact him by cellphone -- he was taking a nap.
"It turned out not to be a hostage situation," Scott said.
The man, who served in the Marine Corps, had rifles and swords in his room, though he did not use them in the incident. Police said the weapons did not appear to be connected to his military service.
Tonawanda police declined to name the man, and his age was unavailable, they said. He was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief and taken to Erie County Medical Center for a mental examination.
No one was injured in the incident.
"He's a very nice young man," another neighbor said. "He's serving in Iraq. They're very nice people."
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