Three-hour armed standoff at Village Square Apartments ends in suspect’s arrest

Lawrence police, accompanied by the department's armored rescue

Lawrence police took a man into custody after a nearly three-hour armed standoff Monday at Village Square Apartments, in the 1500 block of West Eighth Terrace.

The standoff began at noon Monday and ended just before 3 p.m. No one was injured.

The man, whose name does not yet appear on the Douglas County Jail’s booking log, was taken first to speak with investigators at the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, 111 E. 11th St., after his capture, Lawrence police spokesman Sgt. Trent McKinley said. He will likely soon be arrested for his actions, McKinley said.

The man is believed to have been tied to an incident involving a gun and a vehicle that occurred Monday morning at Cedarwood Apartments, near 24th Street in central Lawrence, Lawrence police Capt. Anthony Brixius said.

During that incident, officers were dispatched around 11:30 a.m. to the 2400 block of Cedarwood Avenue after a caller reported a man had borrowed a vehicle and refused to return it, according to Douglas County dispatchers.

The person reported that the man showed the caller a “nine-millimeter handgun” and told the caller that “he knows how to use it,” dispatchers said over the police scanner. Lawrence polices spokesman Sgt. Trent McKinley said the man allegedly pointed the gun at the caller.

Two cars that were “believed to be involved” with the Cedarwood incident were parked outside of Village Square Apartments, Brixius said.

The standoff at Village Square Apartments, where officers said the man is believed to live, began with police calling for the man to exit a ground-floor apartment with his hands up. Other residents inside the apartment he was in evacuated around noon, but the man remained.

Throughout the ordeal, the building was surrounded by more than a dozen vehicles, including the Lawrence Police Department’s armored rescue vehicle. Police wore bulletproof vests and carried shields and rifles while trying to make contact with the man.

“We are not leaving until we can speak with you to get your side of the story,” officers broadcast over a loudspeaker, urging the man to turn on his cellphone to speak with them.

During the incident, police escorted some residents out of the building where the man was located. Police also blocked entrances and exits to the complex.

McKinley said that in standoff situations police would rather wait and attempt to negotiate with an individual than break into a potentially dangerous situation.

“Typically we want to try to negotiate and try to get them to come out themselves,” McKinley said. “When we enter, we don’t know what we’re getting into.”

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