Body found at Route 22 home in Bridgewater as police uncover weapons and drugs

🚨 Bridgewater police went to a Route 22 home after a caller claimed he shot his brother

🚨 An unconscious man was found but there was no indication of a shooting

🚨An arsenal of guns and knives was found in the suspect’s bedroom plus drugs

BRIDGEWATER — A man was arrested after police found a body and an arsenal of weapons in the suspect's bedroom on Wednesday afternoon.

After receiving a call from someone who said he had "shot his brother," Bridgewater police said they went to a house on Route 22. Officers found no indication of a shooting and were told by a man in the house that he had found the unresponsive person.

The man was declared dead. Police said he was known to have a history of drug use.

During a search for drugs, police said they found a loaded Ruger handgun on the nightstand in the bedroom of the suspect, Lance Chillemi, 38. Chillemi has prior convictions for manufacturing and distributing drugs.

Loaded handgun found during drug search, suspect identified

A warrant was obtained for a search of the home. Officers found a loaded double-barrel sawed-off shotgun, a rifle, and ammunition. They also found 18 knives, one of which had a swastika, hatchets, axes and a sword. Drug paraphernalia and cocaine were also found in Chillemi's bedroom, police said.

Chillemi was charged with four counts of second-degree certain persons not to have weapons, four counts of fourth-degree certain persons not to have weapons, third-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, which is a disorderly persons offense, and possession of a prohibited weapon. He was being held at the Somerset County Jail.

Police did not disclose the victim's identity or confirm that Chillemi and the victim were brothers. The cause and manner of death remain under investigation by the New Jersey State Medical Examiner’s Office.

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