Posted on 07/09/2003 5:52:58 AM PDT by Vigilant1
DAYTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) ? Fire burned the rural home of a man who barricaded himself inside during a deadly police standoff, but authorities were unable to find him when they searched the rubble, Michigan State Police said.
Two hours after the Tuesday afternoon fire, officials found a backpack filled with food and ammunition about three-quarters of a mile away, said Tracy Pardo, a state police communications officer.
The wife of the barricaded man, Scott Allen Woodring, 40, identified the backpack as her husband's, Pardo told the Detroit Free Press for a Wednesday story.
State police said Woodring was believed to be inside when they fired a concussion grenade into the house, which went up in flames a short time later. They were uncertain whether the explosive device, intended to stun Woodring, started the fire or if he set it.
State police scheduled a news conference for Wednesday morning.
Trooper Kevin Marshall, a 33-year-old married father of two and a native of Sterling Heights, was shot Monday afternoon during the standoff. He died later during surgery at a Grand Rapids hospital.
State police were called in after the confrontation erupted Sunday night.
Woodring barricaded himself when officers from the Hesperia Police Department and the Newaygo County Sheriff's Department tried to serve him at his Dayton Township home with a felony arrest warrant. The township is adjacent to Fremont, about 30 miles northeast of Muskegon.
The warrant accuses Woodring of soliciting a minor for sex on July 1 at a gas station, The Grand Rapids Press reported.
Several hours into the standoff, police helped Woodring's wife escape the home, leaving him alone inside.
After Woodring allegedly fired two shots from the house on Monday afternoon, the State Police Emergency Support Team stormed inside and then withdrew. Marshall, an eight-year state police veteran who served on the team, was shot at that time.
When asked whether Marshall could have been hit by a bullet shot by another officer, state police Inspector Barry Getzen said the matter remained under investigation and authorities would examine evidence to "determine what rounds the officer was hit with."
Tom Wayne, former chief of staff and executive officer of the Michigan Militia Corps Wolverines, told The Detroit News that Woodring was active in the group until the mid-1990s. They parted ways over ideological differences.
"He started getting more and more into the Christian Identity movement," said Wayne, who said the militia is largely inactive now.
The movement espouses racist, sexist, anti-Semitic and homophobic beliefs.
Woodring's sister, Debbie DeVisser, of Mount Pleasant, described her brother as a deeply religious man who would help anyone and not ask for anything in return.
Asked if she thought he would shoot at someone, DeVisser said, "Scott would not shoot anybody to harm anybody. The only reason he would have shot (at police) was because he felt threatened and to protect himself."
DeVisser said she wished police had allowed family members to talk to Woodring on Tuesday and speculated that family may have been able to talk him out. Relatives were allowed to converse with him on Monday, the same day police said they last spoke with him during the standoff.
Suzie Burdick, of Everett Township in Newaygo County, said she and Woodring have been close friends for five years. She said they have attended the same church for about a year and often spoke several times a day, mostly about the Bible.
Burdick noted that while Woodring holds strong anti-government views, he was a nonviolent person.
"He's the most loving person I've ever known, just about. He's kind, considerate, loving, caring and loved his wife dearly," Burdick said.
Meanwhile, Gov. Jennifer Granholm has ordered flags at all state buildings to be lowered to half-staff until sundown of the day of Marshall's funeral. Funeral arrangements have not yet been completed, according to her office.
Marshall is the 49th Michigan State Police trooper to die in the line of duty. His death is the department's first in three years.
You're not saying a person can't even be ARRESTED until they're proven guilty in a court of law, are you?
The local police had a complaint and got a warrant. That's due process whether he was innocent or not. He should have gone along with them rather than escalating things to the point where outsiders had to be called in.
Sort of a clown, is he? Apart from being a murderer, I mean? And evidently a pedophile?
Every time? Ohhhkaaay...
Well, a cop killer seems open-and-shut. A nutcase seems patently obvious. A militia member, likewise. A pedophile seems sort of likely, given the complaint and warrant.
So what do you think he is?
From the militia website posted above, there supposedly IS a video tape from the gas station. Speculation on what is on it is running towards Woodrings favor. Apparently, after giving his statement and telling the cops to check the tape, he thought the matter settled.
No idea where they are getting their info from over there....
Here you go.... The author of this thread is a Michigan Militia member:
One MMCW member dead and one LEO dead in Michigan
There's another Michigan Militia member posting about it on this thread:
There is also some discussion on the second thread on where the sexual misconduct charge may have originated from, namely teens angry at being criticized by Woodring for provacative dress.
A couple Michigan Militia members are members at that board, and know Woodring personally.
Not necessarily. Even the cops aren't sure they didn't Lubbock one of their own.
A nutcase seems patently obvious.
Christian Identity Movement. "Nutcase" is a given.
A militia member, likewise.
We are ALL of us "militia men" via the Militia Act. He was just one who took it seriously. Things would be a lot different in this country if more people WOULD take it more seriously.
A pedophile seems sort of likely, given the complaint and warrant.
Which, should be proven or disproven by the video tape from the gas station. Given the nature of Woodrings beliefs, more likely that he told the girls off for dressing like sluts and they filed a report against him to get even. It HAS happened before. Also, this guy has no prior run-ins with the Law that resulted in charges. He was clean. Unlikely that he would all of a sudden start soliciting young girls for sex in the middle of the day at a public business.
So what do you think he is?
He's on the run now. Not a single one of us can say for certain exactly WHAT happened or what all the factors are that led to the events in question. Not without exposing quite a lot of agenda that is...
We also don't know yet whether the girl was a local who might have known Woodringer, or part of a carload from out of town who stopped for gas and a pit stop, and had no prior acquaintance with the suspect at all. All we know is that a complaint was filed by the girl with the police in Hesperia.
This is sort of interesting. Sounds like the Michigan Militia (which has striven to keep itself reasonably clean) threw him out for being an Aryan Nations sort of critter.
If he had ties, like you claim, of a religious character into the movement, he may have been trying to win over others to his particular viewpoint. Proselytizing for the Aryan Nations, perhaps.
Perhaps they found additional evidence that substantiated the charge. Maybe the girl's uncle is politically connected and he found out about it. Maybe...
The reason doesn't really matter. They came peaceably with a warrant. He barricaded himself in the house holding his WIFE hostage.
While I have strongly anti-government views myself, a properly executed warrant would be the magic ticket that would make me surrender myself or submit to a search as required, without resistance.
The cops were doing their job, and doing it correctly. Woodering was wrong.
Yes, Woodring's sister has speculated about this to the media. Other than that, there's no other source.
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