February 15, 2024 |
Photo – Armored vehicle at scene of stand-off in Sheridan – Courtesy Sheridan Media
In Sheridan, the deadly standoff between a suspected cop killer and police ended Wednesday evening when the suspect was shot and killed as he tried to flee the house where he was holed up while it was being demolished at the end of a 30-hour standoff.
As an excavator ripped off the roof of the house where William Lowery had taken refuge after killing a Sheridan police officer, the 46-year-old suspect leaped to the ground in the adjacent alleyway. Police were staked out and killed Lowery bringing the tense standoff to an end.
On Tuesday, Lowery shot and killed Sheridan Police Sgt. Nevada Krinkee when the officer was attempting to deliver an eviction notice to Lowery. Lowery had been squatting for months in another house in Sheridan after refusing to pay the $1,100 monthly rent.
Sheridan police called the shooting “senseless.”
After killing Sgt. Krinkee, Lowery took refuge at another home, owned by an elderly woman, in a quiet residential neighborhood. Police surrounded the house and urged the suspect hidden inside to surrender.
Police snipers reported that Lowery was barricaded inside the home, armed with an AR-style rifle and a shotgun.
On Wednesday morning, an armored Lenco Bearcat military-style vehicle was parked outside the home. A helmeted police officer manned a machine gun in the topside turret. A half-dozen armed officers stood waiting for orders to storm the house.
Lowery remained out of view and unresponsive to repeated calls to surrender. On Tuesday night, eight hours into the standoff, the accused killer was spotted inside the home with multiple weapons.
On Wednesday morning, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon ordered both the U.S and Wyoming flags to be lowered to half-staff immediately at the State Capitol and Sheridan County in honor and memory of the slain officer killed in the line of duty.
Multiple law enforcement agencies from around Wyoming surrounded the house at 6th Street and North Sheridan Avenue. The suspected killer ignored repeated demands to come out and surrender.
Late Wednesday morning, a second armed Bearcat vehicle, equipped for tactical military-style missions, arrived at the standoff in the residential neighborhood that has been locked down since Tuesday afternoon.
Earlier Wednesday, a track hoe excavator rumbled to the scene, waiting for orders from police to tear down the home where the gunman was holed-up.
The scene in the residential neighborhood resembled an armed camp throughout the day Wednesday. As darkness closed in, police made their move around 5 p.m.
After more than 24 hours of negotiations and other tactics to get the suspect to peacefully surrender, an excavator started tearing out the upper floors of the house. The suspect jumped from his hiding place and tried to flee down an alleyway with a weapon. Police were waiting. They shot and killed the suspect as he attempted to flee. Lowery was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses reported that the suspect fired a single shot at the excavator before jumping out of his exposed hiding place and into the alley where he was shot and killed by police.
On Feb. 8, five days before Lowery allegedly shot Krinkee to death, Sheridan Circuit Court Judge Sheryl S. Bunting judged the case in the landlords’ favor and ordered Lowery to vacate the apartment house no later than noon Monday, Feb. 12.
She also ordered Lowery to pay $5,803.44 in late rent plus $120 in other costs to the landlords.
The Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office served a notice on Lowery on Jan. 10, giving him three days to leave the house.
The Division of Criminal Investigation will conduct an official investigation into the officer involved shooting at the request of the Sheridan Police Department.
