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.
Because they were still investigating, and his statement was part of that investigation?
Wouldn't you be complaining about a rush to judgment if he had been held after going in of his own free will to make a statement?
It'll all have to be gone through according to the book, of course. But so far, his are the only shots reported to be fired.
Christian Identity Movement. "Nutcase" is a given.
Yeah, see my other post. To me it seems like he isn't a militia member anymore, and that they threw him out before this. Which would be an extremely good thing, all around.
Unlikely that he would all of a sudden start soliciting young girls for sex
Seems sort of strange. But then, it would seem he had been kinda slipping - mentally - for a while. We'll see. If he really had those kinds of leanings, there'll probably be more.
hiahc:
"You're not saying a person can't even be ARRESTED until they're proven guilty in a court of law, are you?"
Spare me the rhetorical tricks and don't put words in my mouth. You wrongly said he solicited a minor for sex when you don't know that's true, and I pointed out it was only an accusation at this point.
As for not coming out when the cops showed up with machineguns, helos and an armored vehicle, perhaps the guy just didn't want to end up like many other people that overzealous cops have killed in raids. As others have pointed out already, he could have been arrested under far more favorable circumstances. It's pretty clear the cops wanted a high-profile LEO three-ring circus for publicity purposes.
So this guy wasn't a member of the proper Michigan Militia, but of Koernke's Kreeps? Oh goody. What would be heinous enough for them to declare him persona non grata?
If the initial charges were murder, would they have let him just walk out of the police station? Something doesn't smell right here.
Thanks for the tour of ideologue dementialand.
The offense supposedly occured on the 1st. That left three working days to get a warrent. They took six days before showing up at his rural home with a small army by the sounds of it.
(sarcasm)No better way to convince a paranoid personality with anti-authoritarian tendancies, to come out with his hands up, than to show up with a tank and guys in SWAT gear...(/sarcasm)
Really ?!? Where did you hear that he was holding his wife hostage ??? Or are you just taking the police claim that they "helped rescue" his wife from the house as absolutely factual, and then extrapolating that into the idea that she was a hostage of her husband?
Show me where I said anything other than that he was accused.
A citizen made a complaint, which means the police were duty-bound to investigate. The decision to arrest does not mean the man is guilty, but that the matter has to be decided by the legal process-- NOT between the arrestors and arrestee. The complainant is every bit as entitled to due process as the suspect.
As for not coming out when the cops showed up with machineguns, helos and an armored vehicle, perhaps the guy just didn't want to end up like many other people that overzealous cops have killed in raids.
Well, if he'd only gone with the local police to the station when they showed up with a warrant, the "machine guns, helos, and armored vehicles" would never have arrived.
Yuppers.
Oh goody. What would be heinous enough for them to declare him persona non grata?
Well, given that it is Koernke's Kreeps, I'd say nothing. Um, he is CI--it could be not hating blacks, Jews, etc.
If he's innocent, then he will be proven so! As far as the friendly fire, this is completely new information. Yesterday, the media reported that Woodring shot him. We'll wait and see what the ballistic tests show. But I'm sure you won't trust those either.
His actions are not those of a rational man, let alone someone who doesn't trust the government.
Idle speculation and conjecture not based upon reason or facts.
Yes, I already noticed a few of them circling the thread, gibbering and throwing excrement. ;^) It's not unexpected.
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DC:
"800+ posts on yesterdays thread."
I did a search before posting and came up dry. Could you please post a link here to the previous thread?
It's the same old, tired, anti-Constitution, anti-law, and anti-civilization ideologue song and dance, looking for their poster boy for Claire Wolfism. They have to justify their self-inflicted unhappiness somehow.
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