Monday, October 29, 2012
 
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Out-of-control party ends with police standoff Sunday morning

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(Originally posted Sunday evening)

[October 29, 2012]  Details are sketchy as to what prompted the Illinois State Police and their SWAT team to arrive in Lincoln Sunday morning, but it appears that a party the night before at a home on Burlington Street got out of control and that there were reports of a weapon at the party.

LDN received word at 9:15 Sunday morning that a home on Burlington was surrounded by police and there was supposedly a standoff taking place.

LDN arrived on the scene at 9:30 a.m. and witnessed multiple city of Lincoln police officers, two state police special forces vehicles and numerous officers dressed in combat gear and carrying assault rifles.

Lincoln Police Department Chief Ken Greenslate said the department had reports that there were people inside the house possibly with weapons. As a result, the state police had been called in to assist.

According to neighbors who were watching the scene unfold from their front yards, a loud party had been going on the night before. One neighbor noted he'd been outside at approximately 11:30 Saturday night and activities at the house were "wild."

Another neighbor reported that the police had been on the scene since at least 7:30 a.m.

From 9:30 to 11 a.m. a voice identifying himself as an Illinois state trooper used a loudspeaker to speak toward the house.

It was believed there were three people in the home, possibly two males and a female.

The voice on the speaker repeatedly asked for those inside the house to come out, but nothing happened. He also repeatedly asked for the occupants to acknowledge they could hear him by flashing an outside light or moving a curtain, and again nothing happened.

At approximately 10:30 two women told police officers that at least one of the people believed to be inside the house wasn't.

They said they had heard from another bystander that the person believed to be inside the house had actually been in the Qik-n-EZ on Keokuk at about 9 to 9:30 Sunday morning.

Police questioned the third person about this, and he said indeed, he'd been told by an employee at the convenience store that the person the police thought was inside the house was not.

In the meantime, a young woman was seen running toward the house. She was intercepted by the police and taken to a state police vehicle, where she was allowed to use the loudspeaker.

It appeared that she was the wife of the principal suspect. She addressed him by his first name and asked him to please come out. She talked about their son and said she didn't want to have to raise him alone.

She spoke to the a particular male inside the house, saying that the police had promised her no one would be hurt and that once he came outside, she would be able to speak with him face to face.

The state trooper speaking to the house repeatedly told those inside that if they came out, they would be handcuffed but would be able to speak to family and friends who were at the scene.

During the course of the morning, one of the Lincoln detectives left and returned on multiple occasions. Each time he returned, it appeared he was reporting to police on the scene with information he was gathering from some other location.

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During the morning the large armored vehicle of the state police remained parked immediately in front of the house. On two occasions, sharpshooters exited the vehicle and stationed themselves behind a black pickup that was parked at an angle in the driveway of the home.

As they stood there, the armored vehicle would relocate briefly to another location. On one occasion, the truck pulled into the alley beside the house, was there only briefly, then pulled back out. When it returned to its spot directly in front of the home, the sharpshooters retreated back inside it.

At approximately 11 a.m. the Logan County Paramedics who had been on the scene the entire time left.

Shortly afterward, the state police units also left. City police stayed on the scene. Greenslate said at that time that the department had received conflicting reports as to who, if anyone, was inside the house. He said the state police had stood down, but that the city police would continue their investigation.

Approximately one hour later, LDN returned to the scene and witnessed two city of Lincoln uniformed officers and the city's two police detectives questioning two females and a male outside the house.

The black pickup that allegedly belonged to the principal person that police were trying to get to come out of the home was gone.

One of the uniformed officers was seen using a garden rake to remove a shoe from the roof of the house and return it to one of the three being questioned.

Both detectives were seen to have multiple evidence bags. One detective was also seen going in and coming back out of the house. The other detective was seen taking photos of the inside of a white car parked in the driveway.

One of the uniformed officers also went to the back of his squad and removed a handgun and placed it into an evidence bag being held by a detective.

None of the three being questioned by police was in handcuffs.

As of 1:14 p.m. Sunday afternoon, the police had released no official statements regarding the incident.

[LDN]

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