residents in two citys had to shelter in place before all suspects were arrested. we re following the story and, evan, how did it get started? reporter: the scariest part is over and that these suspects are in custody but began when a police officer around 1:30 came across two vehicles in the breakdown lane on 95 and interacted with people in those vehicles wearing guns and were out and about and saying they didn t abide by u.s. laws and that led to this standoff. some fled into the woods next to the highway. some stayed in the vehicles and had to have negotiations with police that ended just a few minutes ago with niece arrests. what we know there are a lot of guns involved in the case. just a few minutes ago police finished doing a press conference issuing a press conference where they spoke about what they seized in the vehicles and finding a lot of guns that they can see with their own two eyes and expect to get more as they bring people
traffic stop with a group of what police say were heavily armed men wearing tactical gear and body cameras. several of the suspects fled into the wooded area near interstate 95 where the traffic stop occurred. authorities say the suspects claimed to belong to a group that does not recognize u.s. law. all 11 suspects are now in custody. cnn s evan mcmorris-santoro has been falling this all day. what are you learning? reporter: fred, we are learning a lot more about how this standoff went down, what it was like. at 1:30 in the morning last night when a highway patrolman saw these two vehicles parked in the breakdown lane, one vehicle was trying to refuel another fuel. the police officer noticed a lot of guns, asked for licenses and identification, was told there wasn t any. he called for backup. some suspects led to the woods leading to a nine-hour standoff.
police say a tense standoff between a group of heavily armed men, quote, claiming to be from a group that does not recognize our laws is now thankfully over. 11 people near boston have been arrested after they took off into the woods following a traffic stop near the town of wakefield. they were carrying rifles and handguns, wearing military-style uniforms, and cnn s evan mcmorris-santoro has been following that story and that is harrowing from an introduction perspective. what exactly happened here? reporter: that s absolutely right. this is an actually this is a terrifying situation that fortunately has ended peacefully. this morning we got word of the standoff that began around 1:30 a.m. when the police were doing routine patrols of i-95 north of boston. ran into two vehicles parked in the breakdown lane and found within those vehicles a group of armed men. when the police asked for some identification and some gun licenses, they were told that
always. thank you very much, pamela. and tonight, 11 people are in custody following a nine-hour standoff between police and a group of heavily-armed men on one of the nation s busiest interstates. overnight, highway patrol found two vehicles in the breakdown lane on interstate 95. police say heavily-armed men wearing tactical gear were attempting to refuel one of the vehicles. after seeing the then were armed, the trooper called for backup. some of the men, then, fled into the nearby woods. and the standoff ensued. we were able to, successfully, resolve this situation through a combination of negotiation and some tactical maneuvers. the men in custody belong to the rise of the moores, which is a muddled ideology, apparently connected to the moorish sovereignty movement, which believes, among other things, that an 18th century treaty between the u.s. and morocco grants them special rights. they wanted to be heard.
explosives, disposal section, eod, swept both the vehicles tr prior to them being towed. there was no intelligence related to ieds or explosives, however, we wanted to ensure the vehicles were swept prior to being towed and secured for evidentiary processing. motorists transiting on 95 northbound in the wakefield area around the 57 mile marker should exercise caution and expect some delays. there will be some ongoing police activities that they ll see in the area. those activities consist predominantly after searches that are being conducted adjacent to the breakdown lane in the wooded area around that area. we just want to make sure that nothing has been left behind at that scene. that we re confident the public will be safe and there are no items of concern that are there. at the end of the day, really, i attribute the successful resolution of this to patience,