AUBURN — A 21-hour standoff at a home on Gillander Avenue was sparked by an online feud, police said Tuesday.

Daryan Ryan Saunders, 47, was arrested at 10:20 a.m. after police flooded the basement of his home at 30 Gillander Ave. with water after he, according to a neighbor, fired on them.

He was charged with elevated aggravated assault, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, aggravated reckless conduct, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, criminal mischief and creating a police standoff. He was being held at Androscoggin County Jail in lieu of $6,000 cash bail.

Auburn police responded to the area around 2 p.m. Monday after a caller reported a gun was fired at his vehicle, according to a statement from Auburn Deputy Police Chief Timothy Cougle. Officers closed nearby streets and created a perimeter around the property.

Cougle said the caller and Saunders were known to each other and had been involved in an online feud that escalated into threats.

The caller, who was not identified by police, told police he drove by Saunders’ residence Monday after Saunders gave him his address, looking for a confrontation. Saunders fired a single gunshot from inside the house that struck the caller’s vehicle as he drove by, the police statement said.

Auburn police made several attempts to contact Saunders by phone and a loudspeaker, but he would not respond, Cougle said, so the Maine State Police Tactical and Crisis Negotiation teams were called for assistance.

Bolstered overnight by units from New Hampshire, police used a bullhorn to try to talk Saunders into coming out peacefully. Other tactical team members could be seen running through the neighborhoods and taking positions around the house.

Just before 10 a.m., police officers and K-9s were seen weaving through backyards on nearby Park and Grandview avenues, approaching Gillander Avenue. Other officers were seen walking down Gillander with a ramming post.

Just before that, a vehicle equipped with a water hose was seen near the house, and moments later a witness said police were flooding the basement of the house where Saunders was holed up.

Saunders was soon taken into custody.

One neighbor told the Sun Journal she heard what she thought was a gunshot Monday, and a loud car drive off. Then, she said, she heard what she thought was a rough-sounding muffler backfiring, but wondered later if it was a second gunshot. Then, “a half-an-hour later and I see cops everywhere.”

The neighbor said police knocked on the doors of homes immediately surrounding Saunders’ house and asked people to leave, so she went down the street to stay with a neighbor.

“The bullhorn and lights were going all night, every 45 minutes,” she said. “Police did things like break down the front door, break down a window, drag things out of the house, tear gas in the upstairs, tear gas in the basement, and finally started pumping water in the basement” Tuesday morning.

According to the neighbor, the home where Saunders lives is owned by his mother, although she doesn’t live there. “It’s just a bad situation,” she said, as police were forced to “trash her house because he wouldn’t come out.”

The neighbor was aware of Saunders’ criminal history and that he’d spent some time in jail, but said he’d “always been really kind to me. Always. Really pleasant,” even though he had a reputation in the neighborhood as something of a troubled person.

Overnight, other neighbors reported they could hear police negotiators over loudspeakers as they sought to speak with the Saunders.

A loud shot was heard about 2 a.m., according to a neighbor, followed 15 to 20 minutes later by a series of shots that “sounded like a semi-automatic” because the shots were close together.

At about 5:45 a.m. a very loud bang that sounded like a shotgun was heard.

A neighbor said that about 9 a.m., five law enforcement personnel in full tactical gear with a K-9 ran through their backyard and positioned themselves nearby.

“We can hear the bullhorn from time to time,” the neighbor said. “It’s a bit muffled, but a neighbor who is in a more direct line says the cops said (through the bullhorn), ‘We’re just trying to get your attention. You have to stop shooting.'”

Electrical power to the neighborhood went out briefly around 9 a.m. but was restored shortly after.

Cougle’s statement included a thank-you to Auburn police, fire and public works personnel, Maine and New Hampshire state police, and “residents who were directly impacted by this incident for their patience and understanding while we worked to bring the situation to a peaceful resolution.”

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