Tuesday standoff ends safely

Law enforcement officers anticipate that criminal charges will be filed against the man who held police at bay for 5 1/2 hours Monday morning and kept his South Street neighbors away from their homes for three hours longer.

McCook Police Chief Ike Brown did not release the name of the man police took into protective custody when he surrendered at 12:53 p.m., after he fired a "warning shot" and negotiated for 5 1/2 hours with a friend and police, Work Ethic Camp officials and Nebraska State Patrol officers.

Brown said the incident started with a call to the police station at 7:30 a.m., about a suicidal male in possession of a shotgun, in a house on South Street. Officers responded immediately, Brown said, made verbal contact with the man, evacuated neighbors around the house and blocked off South Street from Federal Avenue east to the City of McCook shop.

Neighbors were allowed to leave, but only authorized personnel was allowed into the area. A neighbor identified the house in question as No. 10 South Street.

Brown said a McCook ambulance and crew were on standby a block north, at what Brown called a "safe staging area."

"Anytime there is potential for injury or violence, we want to take the necessary precautions," Brown said.

"The individual was inside the house," he said, "and it was a relatively safe and stable situation," but all precautionary measures were taken.

Brown said the police requested the assistance of crisis negotiators from the Nebraska Department of Corrections Work Ethic Camp in McCook, who provided equipment and a "throw phone," a portable phone thrown to the man in the house and connected to negotiators and officers in a van on the sidewalk down the street north of the house.

Nebraska State Patrol officers, investigators and members of its SWAT teams arrived about mid-morning, Brown said.

Brown said a friend tried to talk to the man, who, at 11:30 a.m., fired what the man called "a warning shot" inside the house. "No one was injured," Brown said.

Negotiations continued, and the man surrendered at 12:53 p.m. He was taken into protective custody.

The man was alone the entire time, Brown said.

Neighbors were allowed back into their homes at about 4 p.m.

"The investigation continues," Brown said. "Some criminal charges are anticipated."

Brown said officers continue to work with Red Willow County Attorney Paul Wood; no court arraignment date has been set.

Brown commended personnel on the scene -- police, State Patrol and Work Ethic Camp. "They were very professional and did a super job," Brown said. "We were able to work together to keep everyone safe."

He continued, "The ambulance crew did a great job, sitting there patiently with us for 5 1/2 hours."

Brown was pleased that the incident wound down with no injuries to anyone. "Everyone worked together," he said, "to ensure that everything turned out OK ... everyone was safe."