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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] |
