Posted on 12/31/2004 3:06:04 PM PST by TERMINATTOR
NEWINGTON, Conn. A 14-hour standoff in Connecticut has ended with the death of a police officer and a former state corrections officer who'd been holding him hostage.
Police say the hostage-taker killed the police officer, and then took his own life.
Last night, Newington police officer Peter Lavery was shot and wounded as he handled a domestic violence call at a home. When he didn't respond to calls, state and local police came to his aid.
For much of today, a state police tactical team was on the first floor of the home -- as the hostage-taker and the injured officer remained in the basement. Police tried various ways of forcing them out -- including the use of tear gas and water from a hose.
But there'd been no contact with the gunman since early this morning.
Sigh...when does it end?
Prayers for the slain officer's family for strength to see them through their grief.
OMG I heard about this earlier on the radio! At the time they were just saying it was unresolved....prayers for his family.
Not a lot of facts here. Was this a Columbine-like mistake - delaying an assault on the perpetrator while the injured officer died? Not clear from this story.
True. This may warrant a Google search.
I found this which makes it sound as though the officer died of his wound during the stand-off:
http://www.wfsb.com/Global/story.asp?S=2750275
NEWINGTON - A police officer and his hostage taker are dead after an overnight standoff at a home on Mountain View Drive.
At a press conference held Friday afternoon, s tate and Newington police confirmed that Master Police Officer Peter Lavery, a 19 year veteran of the force, died of a gun shot wound. The hostage taker, a former correction officer who was terminated from his job in 1999, died of a self-inflicted gun shot wound to the head.
"It appears, from what the officers were able to determine, once they were able to get into the first floor of the house last night and based on their observations that the officer was dead early in the course of events,"said Commissioner Leonard C. Boyle, state public safety commissioner.
Lavery was shot at about 10:30 p.m. while responding to a home on Mountain View Drive. He was still in the home early Friday, but the shooter's wife escaped. State troopers, area police and a police emergency response team came to Newington's aid when the officer did not respond to calls from his colleagues late Thursday.
A state police tactical team was on the first floor of a home, where the hostage-taker and the injured officer were holed up in the basement, said Sgt. J. Paul Vance, a state police spokesman.
Vance said the tactical team was "moving methodically and slowly to preserve any possibility of life." He said the hostage-taker had "significant weaponry."
Police used various tactics to try and force the hostage-taker out, including attempting to flood the basement, Vance said.
Vance said tear gas had been used during the course of the night, but the situation remained a standoff. He did not specifically address earlier reports of rifle fire and a blast that sounded like a concussion grenade, heard just before midnight when police appeared to try and enter the house to rescue Lavery.
As soon as I heard that it was a former corrections officer that shot the cop and took him hostage I knew the police officer was as good as dead. No way a former prison guard is going to let himself be taken to jail.
It doesn't, FRiend.
Happy & Healthy New Year.
Prayers for the LEO and his family.
Domestic Violence Call = Confiscate His Guns
From my cold dead hands! Chalk up a couple of more deaths to the Brady bunch.
Can we lay this at Sarah Brady's doorstep?
You guys have much better ping lists than I. If you're so inclined, ping away!
Domestic violence calls are the calls Police Officer's hate to respond to because they usually (more often than not) turn ugly and someone usually ends up hurt or dead.
Oh, I know but it is all so senseless and sad. Thank you and a healthy, safe and Happy New Year to you as well.
The perpetrator here has been arrested numerous times in the last few years on assault and violation of his probation among other things. He's known among his neighbors and the local police for modifying weapons and having aa virtual arsenal in his basement.
This is not a mild-mannered, law abiding gun owner suddenly attacked by the cops in his own home after an argument with his wife - he set up an ambush in his basement, shot a cop with an automatic weapon and tried to shoot his girlfriend and the cop's partner as well.
Ordinarily I have no issue with gun ownership by the great majority of the public, but if it was (for example) my dad who was arrested several times for beating up my mom and other family members, I would want his guns removed from the house. There are some people out there who simply should not have guns, period.
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