Pocatello man who apparently killed himself after leading law enforcement officers on chase had long list of criminal offenses

10-7-2014 Idaho:

POCATELLO – The city man who apparently committed suicide in his car after leading law enforcement officers on a high-speed pursuit Saturday night had an extensive criminal history dating back to 2000.

The approximately 25 minute chase ended at a mobile home park off Wilson Avenue when suspect Bryan Seward turned his gun on himself, authorities said. He then involuntarily crashed his vehicle into an unoccupied mobile home. Seward had fired at law enforcement officers from his car after initiating the chase but no one was wounded, authorities said.

The 46-year-old Seward last got in trouble with the law on Oct. 31, 2013, when he was charged with lewd conduct with a child under 16 in Bannock County. The charge carried a penalty enhancement because authorities deemed Seward to be a persistent violator.

Man suspected of child abuse, pornography kills himself after standoff

5-3-2014 Oklahoma:

It happened in south Broken Arrow Friday night into Saturday morning

Broken Arrow, Okla. — A man suspected of child pornography and sexual abuse killed himself after a standoff with police in Broken Arrow early Saturday morning.

Maj. Mark Irwin with Broken Arrow police tells KRMG the incident started around 10 p.m., in a neighborhood near West Jasper St. and South Aspen Ave., (!45h E. Ave. and 131st St.).

Detectives served a search warrant for child abuse, child sex abuse, and child pornography on John Murray Jr.'s home after a family member approached them with evidence.

Irwin said detectives served the warrant after hours because of the fear that Murray might destroy evidence.

"The situation developed rapidly," he said.

Officials: Sex offender died of self-inflicted wounds

11-3-2012 South Carolina:

An Upstate man who shot himself to end a 12-hour standoff near Holly Hill died Friday.

John Henry Mauldin, 44, of Greenville was taken to the Regional Medical Center late Thursday to be treated for what authorities say was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

He died Friday evening of a laceration to the brain, Orangeburg County Chief Deputy Coroner Sean Fogle said.

According to Deputy U.S. Marshal Amanda Lyons, Mauldin was being sought by Greenville County officials on a probation violation.

The former tow truck company employee was convicted in 1986 on a child molestation charge in Georgia involving a 14-year-old female.

On March 15, Greenville County authorities obtained a warrant for his arrest. They discovered he had been on the run since January when he failed to report for a scheduled meeting with his probation officer.

Mauldin was also accused of failing to meet his lifetime sex offender registration requirement with Greenville County as required in March.

In October, an anonymous tip was sent to the Greenville County Sex Offender Watch tip line informing authorities that Mauldin may be hiding out in the Holly Hill area.

At that point, the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office contacted Operation Intercept, the U.S. Marshals-led fugitive task force, for assistance.

Operation Intercept determined Mauldin was staying in a trailer on Pecan Drive and converged on that location along with local and state authorities on Thursday.

Upon arriving in the area, officers verified with neighbors the Greenville man was residing in the area.

When officers reached the inside of the residence, they found Mauldin, who stated, “I have a gun,” Lyons said.

Seeing what looked like a handgun, the officers backed out of the residence.

The Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team was called in for additional assistance around 11 a.m.

Tactical officers surrounded the residence, located in a wooded area off Bunch Ford Road. Negotiating teams began trying to convince the Upstate man to surrender.

Meantime, Mauldin’s troubles were getting worse at the very moment he and law enforcement officers faced each other.

According to Greenville County court documents, an Upstate bank filed a debt collection suit against him Thursday.

Around 10 p.m. officers outside the residence heard a single gunshot.

In a statement issued before Mauldin’s death, U.S. Marshal for the District of South Carolina Kelvin Washington said the U.S. Marshals will “work day and night to bring you to justice.”

“The magnitude of this case is an exemplary illustration of how well all law enforcement partners worked together,” Washington said. ..Source.. by T&D Staff Report

Autopsy: Man who killed former girlfriend at Duke clinic committed suicide

Posted in Related Deaths

5-10-2010 North Carolina:

The Durham man who exchanged gunfire with police in May after fatally shooting his former girlfriend at a Duke clinic died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Burnett Taylor, 51, died of a contact gunshot wound to the right side of his head, the autopsy report states.

Taylor was confronted by police about two blocks from the clinic at 3116 N. Duke St. where 40 minutes earlier he had fatally shot 49-year-old Charlene King six times.

When police confronted Taylor, the autopsy states, he was holding a gun to his head.

Shots were also fired by police, the autopsy report states. The autopsy describes a second gunshot wound to the left hip. ..Source.. by Staff Reports

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Man shoots, kills girlfriend at Duke health clinic

5-6-2010 North Carolina:

DURHAM (WTVD) -- A Duke Medicine employee was shot and killed by a gunman who came to her workplace in Durham Tuesday afternoon.

The shooting at the Duke Health Center at North Duke Street happened just before 3 p.m. at the corner of N. Duke Street and Frasier Street. That's north of I-85 near the Durham Regional Hospital.

Panicked 911 calls immediately began flooding into emergency operators.

"We're all hiding in a room here," a doctor told a 911 operator.

Click here to listen to the calls

"The guy with the gun came in and somebody fell through the door," said another caller. "A man came in behind her and shot."

Witnesses reported hearing four shots. They said medical staff were attempting to give the woman CPR, but she was unconscious.

Durham police identified the victim as 49-year-old Charlene Bullock King. Relatives told ABC11 that she worked at the center for 27 years as a phlebotomist. They said the gunman was her ex-boyfriend.

Police identified him as 52-year-old Burnette Taylor of Durham.

"Charlene was very sweet, very sweet," King's stepson Steven Shealey said. "She didn't deserve this at all. Even at one point when I was going through some things with my fiancé, she took me in."

He said she had recently had a fight with Taylor and decided to leave the relationship.

"I guess he realized he had lost something that was a jewel, something that was precious as she was, and that's why he couldn't let go," Shealey said.

After the shooting, Durham police quickly swarmed the area trying to find Taylor who took off on foot.

"We happened to have officers training not too far from here at that point in time, so they were able to respond at a very quick rate," Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez said.

Witnesses reported the gunman ran into a wooded area behind a house on Carver Street. They reported hearing multiple gunshots before Taylor was seen lying on the ground.

As police tracked Taylor, Lopez said he "engaged police officers in a gun battle" at Carver and Broad streets.

Taylor was shot by officers and Lopez said he was taken to Duke Hospital where he later died.

Lopez said the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation would be assisting in the case - as is standard in any officer involved shooting.

Taylor had a long criminal record. According to the North Carolina Department of Corrections, he was a registered sex offender after convictions for second-degree rape and kidnapping in 1993. He also has convictions for car theft, larceny of firearms, resisting arrest, and drunk driving.

After serving time for those crimes, he was released and apparently began dating another woman, who late-last year accused him of assault. The woman even requested a temporary restraining order, describing a violent episode in which Taylor beat her unconscious. In court documents she wrote, "He continued to slap, kick, punch me with his fists. Blackening both my eyes, fracturing my ribs, my liver was cut due to a kick."

Probation officers put out warrants for Taylor's arrest beginning in November of last year.

State correction officials say Taylor's probation officer made every attempt to locate him, but officers never managed to track Taylor down, until six months later when Durham police officers shot him Tuesday.

Officials with the North Carolina Department of Correction also say their revue shows the probation officer made numerous attempts to find Taylor over the last six months, at his last known address and his family members, but Taylor was willfully fleeing supervision.

Meanwhile, Duke Medicine reopened on Thursday after it cancelled all appointments for all services at the Duke Health Center at North Duke Street for Wednesday. ..Source.. by WTVD.com

Amber Alert canceled after mom, 2 kids found safe; suspect shot himself

3-31-2012 Texas:

HOUSTON—A man shot himself after kidnapping a woman and her two children Saturday morning. He is the same suspect involved in a police chase following an assault on the same　victim on Thursday, according to Houston police.

On Thursday, 22-year-old Courtney Dickerson escaped from police after assaulting a woman in the Medical Center. Investigators said Dickerson attacked the victim, who was an ex-girlfriend of the suspect, on her way to work and forced her to drive to an apartment complex by knifepoint. After assaulting her, he stole her car.

Officers chased him through southwest Houston. During the pursuit, he bailed out of the vehicle and took off running. Police weren’t able to catch up with him.

The victim and her 2-year-old and 4-year-old daughters were then abducted around 11:30 p.m. on Friday from the 8100 block of Lawler St. by Dickerson, a registered sex offender. Police issued a double Amber Alert.

Dickerson was spotted near his registered address and again chased by the police. He again fled from his vehicle on foot and shot himself in the head. He was taken to Ben Taub hospital where he died.

The victims were safely located and reunited with family and the Amber Alert has been cancelled.

"(Dickerson) said that he wasn’t going to let them take him alive when they were chasing him," said Diana Walton, the victims’ aunt.

Friends said Dickerson knew the woman for 10 months. Police said she made several reports of abuse against him.

Dickerson was also wanted for the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl in 2010 but was never arrested. ..Source.. by khou.com

Report clears Fond du Lac officers

Posted in Related Deaths

3-20-2011 Wisconsin:

Fond du Lac - The Fond du Lac County prosecutor says Officers were justified in defending themselves and firing at a gunman who had shot and killed a police officer in March, the Fond du Lac County district attorney's office ruled Monday.

A report issued by the DA's office says the gunman, James Cruckson, 30, sexually assaulted his girlfriend and refused to return her 6-year-old daughter. Several police officers responded. The report says Cruckson shot and wounded one officer who entered the home, and he riddled another officer's squad car with bullets.

As a third officer ran to investigate the sounds of gunfire, Cruckson shot him twice and killed him. One shot hit Officer Craig Birkholz, 28, in the abdomen below his bulletproof vest, and the second hit the top of the vest with fragments entering his torso.

Cruckson later killed himself. ..Source.. by DINESH RAMDE

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DOJ releases FdL shooting report

10-5-2011 Wisconsin:

MADISON - The Wisconsin Department of Justice has released more than one thousand pages of documents related to its investigation of the March shooting that killed a Fond du Lac police officer.

The Fond du Lac County district attorney ruled last month police acted appropriately during the shooting.

FOX 11 filed an open records request with the state to obtain the records from that incident. The DOJ handed them over Tuesday.

The department has since posted the report on its website. Click here to read it.

Authorities say James Cruckson shot and killed 28-year-old officer Craig Birkholz as he ran towards the scene. Cruckson also shot Officer Ryan Williams and his K9 officer Grendel, both recovered. Cruckson later took his own life.

As Fond du Lac officers battled his shots March 20, frantic calls poured into to 911.

"I believe I'm hearing gunshots," one caller said. "Yes, stay in your house, stay away from windows," the dispatcher responded.

"I'm on Division and Lincoln," another said.

"You need to stay in your house, we have an incident going on on Lincoln," a dispatcher responded.

The recordings are part of more than 1,000 pages of investigative documents, photos and video, released to FOX 11 by the Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation.

Some information has been removed to protect the victims, Officer Ryan Williams, James Cruckson's former girlfriend and Officer Craig Birkholz.

Dash cam video shows Birkholz racing to the scene. Other officers were already there, including Williams. Bullets were flying.

"Shots fired, shots fired, we got a sniper," officers say over radio.

The video goes black when Birkholz leaves the car. DOJ removed the video, because it captures Birkholz' death.

According to the autopsy report, Birkholz was shot twice.

Newly-released video from the Department is giving us a first look inside the duplex where it all began. Video shows the second floor where police say Cruckson fired nearly 50 rounds through a window.

Hundreds of pages of interviews confirm Cruckson was driven by a crumbling relationship. He spoke with a negotiator ten times during the standoff.

In the report, the negotiator describes Cruckson as having flat emotions. He said Cruckson never yelled during the conversations, but did admit killing an officer and raping his former girlfriend.

However, in audio previously released by Fond du Lac authorities, Cruckson blamed her for everything.

"You lied, that's why those cops got killed, so pretty much you killed those cops," Cruckson said on her voicemail.

Hundreds of photos show the aftermath of Cruckson's attack, Williams' vest pierced in several places, squad cars riddled with bullets and a community and department forever changed.

The report, like the Fond du Lac County district attorney, also concluded that officers acted appropriately to protect the community. ..Source.. by Lindsay Veremis, FOX 11 News

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SPECIAL REPORT - In Their Own Words: FdL Officer Shooting One Year Later

3-21-2012 Wisconsin:

Concerns about 6-year-old prompted police to enter Lincoln Avenue duplex

Jon Gutzmann

Capt. Jon Gutzmann has no regrets about his decisions and actions the morning of March 20, 2011.

He was one of three officers to first enter James Cruckson’s home at 24 S. Lincoln Ave. on the city’s west side after Cruckson’s ex-girlfriend, Josephine Warner, reported a sexual assault and that her 6-year-old daughter was still in the house.

That morning, he saw a bloody Officer Ryan Williams tumble into Officer Zach Schultz on the stairwell leading up to where the armed and suicidal Cruckson was situated.

Gutzmann later heard calls about Officer Craig Birkholz being shot by Cruckson and killed.

During the shootout, Gutzmann left the house in an armored vehicle only to return again with the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team to find Cruckson dead on the first floor of his residence from a single self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“Obviously, I have thought about this a great deal over the last year,” said Gutzmann, who continues to read reports and listen to dispatch tapes. “… Given the information I had that day, no, I would have not made any other decision. In speaking with other (officers) that were in that house, we all agreed that was the best method, given the information we had.

“I said all along that I don’t know if I could go back and sit in my house and look at my children if, in fact, the little girl would’ve have been in that home and harmed. … I took an oath to not let that happen.” ..This is a multi-page article, more in the original.. by Russell Plummer

Matthew Anderson: Sex offender's suicide after standoff doesn't end worries in Northglenn

1-3-2012 Colorado:

Matthew Richard Anderson's suicide is reverberating two days later, and not just because Northglenn Police officer Dennis Alps is still recovering from a wound sustained during the standoff that preceded the sex offender's final act. Parents are aghast at learning that Anderson was living legally near Northglenn Middle School, despite a 2006 conviction for trying to entice what he thought was a young teen -- but which turned out to be a cop.

Although five communities in Colorado place restrictions on sex offenders living near schools, Northglenn is not among them -- so Anderson wasn't violating any procedures due to his choice of address. That came as a surprise to at least one parent featured in a Fox31 report on view below. View it after checking out a larger photo of Anderson and the original release issued by the NPD following the officer-involved shooting and its aftermath.

Northglenn Police Department release, January 3:

On January 3, 2011, at approximately 6:45p.m., Northglenn Police officers were attempting to execute a Felony search warrant at 1443 Bowman Place, on a Matthew Richard Anderson (DOB 10-26-70). Mr. Anderson had three Felony warrants out for his arrest, which included failed to register as a sex offender, internet sexual exploitation of a child and sexual assault on a child.

Officers attempted to make contact at the front door of the residence, when a male suspect fired numerous shots out the front door, hitting one officer twice. The suspect barricade himself in the residence. Officer Dennis Alps was ground transported to a local hospital with a wound to his right shoulder. The wound is non life threatening.

The Northglenn/Thornton SWAT team was activated along with other outside agencies. The SWAT Team attempted to contact the suspect numerous times over several hours with no success.

At approximately 2a.m. the SWAT Team made entry into the residence. A body was found inside the residence with a self inflicted wound to the head. We are currently waiting identification of the body from the coroner's office.

..Source.. by Michael Roberts

Wanted Man Staying at Friend's House Dies During Stand-off

12-12-2011 Virginia:

Martinsville, VA -- The search for a sex offender led to a standoff in Martinsville Tuesday morning and ended with the suspect's death.

Investigators responded to a house on Drewry Road in Martinsville to look for Steven Ray Bishop, 40, Tuesday morning. When they arrived, they say Bishop shot himself.

Bishop was wanted by the Virginia State Police and Patrick County Sheriff's Office for failure to register as a sex offender and failure to appear on drug distribution charges.

US Marshals, along with the Henry County Sheriff's Office and the Virginia State Police Tactical Team, searched Bishop's mobile home in Bassett. According to US Marshals, Bishop was not at the home, but they discovered an active meth lab.

They learned Bishop was at his friend's house on Drewry Road. A friend of Bishop's said that Bishop came to the house Monday to fix her daughter's car. He then spent the night, and Tuesday morning heard a knock on the door from the Police. His friend says he ran into the bedroom and shot himself, saying he would rather be dead than in jail.

Neighbors say it was all pretty chaotic.

"I woke up about 7:30 this morning hearing gunshots, but I thought I was dreaming, but it really was true. Then the police was in front of my yard and everybody was drawing guns," said Chris Barbour, a neighbor of Bishop's friend.

Bishop died at the scene. ..Source.. by Heather Rosenbaum

Standoff ends with suicide

12-5-2011 Ohio:

HIGHLANDTOWN - A man about to face charges of gross sexual imposition chose to end his own life following a standoff Saturday at his Steubenville Pike home.

According to Sheriff Ray Stone, it is believed Howard McNeal shot himself at the same time law enforcement officers were breaking into his home with a battering ram. His death ended a standoff in which an armed McNeal along with two dogs kept officers away for more than five hours.

The incident began early Saturday when McNeal's wife came home shortly after 10 a.m. and reportedly found McNeal, 58, involved in a sexual act with a 3-year-old granddaughter. The grandmother grabbed the child and ran from the home. On her way to take the child to Salem Community Hospital for treatment, McNeal's wife found an Ohio Highway Patrol trooper handling a crash on nearby state Route 518. She then reported what she had seen at her home.

The trooper contacted the county Sheriff's Department. At about 10:15 a.m. a deputy and a trooper went to the door at 15469 Steubenville Pike, where McNeal reportedly met the two men holding a handgun.

Stone said at that point, the county Special Response Team (SRT) team was called to the house, along with additional deputies and troopers. An officer from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in the area also assisted. Assistant Prosecutor John Gamble was called to have a warrant created based on probable cause being established. The warrant was for a third-degree felony gross sexual imposition, a charge based on the child being less than 13-years-old.

One deputy spoke with McNeal on the telephone throughout part of the day, and it was hoped he would give himself up. But eventually, he began calling relatives to say his farewells. Stone said McNeal had already served time for a 1985 sexual battery case in another state, possibly Florida.

"He didn't want to go back to jail," Stone said.

In attempts to try to get him out, deputies used distractive explosives, rammed the door and when it they got the door open, shot tear gas into the house. However, McNeal's body was found inside.

The house also caught fire, which Stone said could have been from the tear gas canisters. The Highlandtown Fire Department, which was already waiting in the area, was assisted by West Point Fire Department and Franklin Township firefighters to put out the fire.

Information about the extent of the damage to the home was not available Saturday night. ..Source.. by DEANNE JOHNSON, Staff Writer

9-hour standoff in Holly Hill ends in suicide of rape suspect

8-26-2011 Florida:

HOLLY HILL -- A man who overdosed after police came to his house to arrest him on charges of raping a 9-year-old girl called a few of his friends and told them he had done something terrible, Holly Hill Police Chief Mark Barker said Friday.

A few hours later, 55-year-old Edward Eugene Carter's refusal to emerge from his residence for the arrest prompted a nine-hour standoff on Daytona Avenue that included the Volusia County sheriff's SWAT team, the Bomb Squad and a specialized robot.

In the end, just after 2 a.m. Friday, police found Carter slumped over on a desk inside his two-story house, his handgun next to him, Barker said Friday. Preliminary autopsy reports showed Carter -- the father of three girls -- had killed himself with a lethal dose of alcohol, Xanax and methamphetamines, Barker said.

Police first arrived at Carter's home on Daytona Avenue about 5:30 p.m. Thursday to arrest him on a warrant for sexual battery of a child, Barker said. The case had just been reported to police on Wednesday, even though the abuse had been going on for almost a year, the chief said.

According to the arrest affidavit, the girl and her godmother were doing the child's homework Wednesday afternoon when suddenly the youngster passed a note to her godmother that said "Jed had sex with me," the police report shows. "Jed" is the name friends and neighbors knew Carter by, police said.

The godmother immediately told the child's mother, and the two women then asked the child a few questions, the report shows. The girl drew pictures of what occurred between her and Carter, police said. She also wrote out another note that said: "I was scared to tell mom because he told me not to tell no one. I was very scared!"

Police began their investigation Thursday and during the course of that inquiry, Carter made several statements that confirmed the allegations the child had made, Barker said.

Thursday afternoon investigators had enough evidence to confront Carter with an arrest warrant, police said. That's when the trouble started.

Officers reported Carter came out of the house momentarily with his weapon in his waistband. He then went back into his house and refused to come out, police said.

Barker said he tried to negotiate with Carter, but Carter's level of intoxication increased throughout the night and he was uncooperative and refused to come out of the home.

"We tried everything possible to resolve this," Barker said.

As the standoff continued, multiple units arrived at the scene, including the Volusia County sheriff's SWAT team and the Bomb Squad, which deployed a specialized robot.

One neighbor described the street as a "war zone," as long-range marksmen and an armored tactical vehicle moved through.

Barker said the SWAT team deployed tear gas into the home, but got no response. The Bomb Squad robot searched the residence but found no one.

Carter was finally found dead about 2:15 a.m. on the second floor of the home with no visible trauma to his body. At no time during the standoff were any shots fired, authorities said.

Friday afternoon, detectives were expected to return to Carter's green-colored house to search for evidence, Barker said.

The chief said Carter may have victimized other children. The suspect had a swimming pool at his home that was popular with a few neighborhood children. ..Source.. by LYDA LONGA and CHRIS GRAHAM, Staff writers

Victim confirms identity of sex offense suspect

3-8-2011 Missouri:

Boonville police have confirmed Todd Rehkop is the suspect for the attempted sexual assault that occurred at a Boonville gas station March 2. Shortly after the incident, Rehkop committed suicide after the highway patrolmen in Lafayette county stopped him.

“(Police) confirmed the identity through the victim,” Boonville Police Department Lt. Bob Welliver said.

David Hanaway, who is Lafayette County Sherriff’s Department Chief Deputy, said he received a message from highway patrolmen who had observed a vehicle on I-70 matching the description and license plate of Rehkop’s vehicle.

“One of my deputies, a highway patrol man, and another one of our deputies joined them, stopped the vehicle and Mr. Rehkop took his own life,” Hanaway said.

Officers at BPD are still trying to look into Rehkop’s background and past, Welliver said.

Welliver also said the incident happened about two-tenths of a mile away from Boonville High School. He said the Boonville Police Department is not taking any additional safety measures in light of the assaults.

“If you feel in danger, call 911, escape —- just your general basic rules,” he said. “There’s no way the police department is going to stop everyone that’s going to commit a crime. It’s impossible to do.”

Welliver said his best advice is for people to take caution.

“There was many, many people in (the gas station) when (Rehkop) walked in, and no one stopped him, so that just tells you how hard it is to prevent these things,” he said. ..Source.. by Teddy Nykiel

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Update: Todd Rehkop identified as suicidal rape suspect

3-2-2011 Missouri:


COLUMBIA, MO. -- UPDATE: Wednesday March 2nd at 5:45 p.m.:

Boonville Police say Lake St. Louis resident Todd Bryan Rehkop, 41, is the suicidal suspect connected to a sexual assault at a truck stop.

Columbia Police believe Rehkop could also be responsible for 2 other sexual assault cases within the past 24 hours.

A woman, 22, told authorities that a man with a handgun matching Rehkop’s description ordered her into his pick-up truck in the Conley Road Hy-Vee Shopping Center parking lot and forced her to take off her clothes and perform a sexual act on him. Somehow the woman escaped and ran naked into the supermarket and got help. Earlier in the evening, a man fitting the Rehkop’s description and carrying a handgun approached a woman, 57, in the Sam’s Club parking lot, also on Conley Road. Authorities believe Rehkop left in his pick-up truck after the woman told him to go away.

Authorities say Rehkop left Columbia and tried to attack a woman at Boonville’s Pilot Travel Center Truck Stop and Convenience Store.

A female employee told police that Rehkop tried to rape her while she was folding towels in a utility room near a shower area. The victim said Rehkop left her alone after the woman begged her attacker not to touch her. Before he left, Rehkop told the woman he was going to kill himself.

Rehkop committed suicide after a brief standoff with a Lafayette County Sheriff’s Deputy who spotted Rehkop’s pick-up truck on Interstate 70. No one knows what Rehkop did between his Boonville encounter at midnight and his suicide in Lafayette county at 2 a.m.

Boonville Police Captain Don Smith said, “Is there a victim between here and there? So far, we haven’t been able to find out. No department has reported anything. Maybe, he was at the rest area or something.”

Authorities said the Columbia businesses involved with the attacks provide a safe and secure environment. For example, Hy-Vee customers can request an employee escort to their car at any hour of the day or night.

Columbia Police Sgt. Jill Wieneke said, “Hy-Vee even has signs posted saying that there’s security surveillance on the parking lot. I think in this case, obviously, the suspect fully could realize that those things were present and still chose to do what he did.”

Hy-Vee officials have many security features at their Conley Road store in Columbia. They are going to review the situation to see if they need to make any changes to keep their customers as safe as possible.

Original Story:

Mid-Missouri police are investigating multiple sexual assault reports in the past 24 hours.

Columbia police said they got two reports last night from stores in the Conley Road shopping complex. The first report came in at 7:35 Tuesday night. A 57 year old female said a man approached her when she was loading groceries into her car in the Sam's Club parking lot. The victim said the man pointed a handgun at her. She yelled at the man and he got in his truck and left the scene.

Around 11:00 Tuesday night, officers got a report of a 22 year old female running into the Hy-Vee grocery store screaming for help. The victim told police she was loading groceries into her car when a man approached her with a handgun. The victim said the suspect forced her into the back seat of a vehicle and sexually assaulted her. The victim was able to escape and run into Hy-Vee for help. The description of this suspect matched the one from Sam's Club earlier in the night.

Around midnight, Boonville Police contacted Columbia Police about a similar incident that occured at a local gas station. Boonville police were able to get a license plate on the truck involved in that incident.

Around 2:00 a.m. a Lafayette County Sheriff Deputy spotted the suspect's truck on I-70, and stopped the truck. After a short standoff with deputies, the suspect shot and killed himself.

The investigation continues and police are working to confirm that suspect in Lafayette County is the same suspects from the Columbia and Boonville incidents. ..Source.. by Mark Slavit

Man Suspected In Sexual Assaults Kills Self After Standoff

3-4-2011 Missouri:

LAFAYETTE COUNTY, Mo. -- A man suspected of a pair of armed sex assaults and approaching another woman with a gun shot and killed himself in Lafayette County on Wednesday morning after a short standoff.

At around 7:35 p.m. Tuesday, a woman reported that a man had approached her while she was unloading groceries into her car at the Sam's Club in Columbia at 101 Conley Road, police said. The woman said the man pointed a handgun at her and the victim said she yelled at him to get away from her, according to police. The woman said the man smiled at her and then got into his truck and drove away, police said.

Around 11 p.m. Tuesday at a Hyvee grocery store in Columbia at 25 Conley Road, a woman ran into the store screaming for help, police said. Police officers said the victim said she had been unloading groceries into her car when she was approached by a man with a handgun. The man forced the woman into the back seat of the vehicle and sexually assaulted her, police said. The woman was able to escape the car and run inside the store for help, police said.

Both women described the truck as large and dark in color.

Around midnight, Boonville police contacted Columbia police about a similar incident that occurred at a local gas station. Boonville police were able to get the license plate of the truck and the information was passed on to law enforcement along the Interstate 70/Missouri Highway 63 corridor.

Around 2 a.m., police said a Lafayette County sheriff's deputy spotted the truck on Interstate 70 and pulled the vehicle over on a traffic stop. After a brief standoff with deputies, the man shot himself in the head, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Columbia police detectives and the Boonville police are currently working to confirm that the man who killed himself is the same suspect in the Columbia and Boonville incidents. ..Source.. by KCTV5.com

Colo. Officer Shot While Executing Warrant

1-4-2011 Colorado:

Sex offender found dead after standoff

A registered sex offender who held Northglenn police at bay for several hours and fired at officers after they tried to enter his house was found dead early Tuesday morning after officers used a robot to enter his house.

Officers had arrived at a home in the 1400 block of Bowman Place near Irma Drive, looking for Matthew Anderson.

Officers had a warrant for his arrest and a search warrant for the address. Anderson, 40, was accused of attempting to lure a 13-year-old girl for sex over the Internet.

"When officers received no answer at the door, they breached the door and as soon as they got inside, gunfire came from inside the home, striking one of our officers," said Northglenn Police Chief Russell Van Houten.

Northglenn police officer Dennis Alps was hit.

“One of our officers was shot in the upper arm. Also another round, I was told, hit almost in the center of his body armor, in his chest,” Van Houten said.

“(Alps) was transported by ground ambulance down to Denver Health. He's been in the emergency department. And my understanding is if he hasn't already been released he's going to be released and go home,” Van Houten added.

Anderson was facing charges of Internet sex exploitation of a child, child inducement and Internet luring of a child. Anderson pleaded guilty in 2009 to similar charges filed in Jefferson County, according to Colorado court records.

After the SWAT team was called out a little after 6:45 p.m., some neighbors were told to stay inside their homes, while others were evacuated to an elementary school across the street.

After several hours with no communication from the suspect, police sent a robot into the house at about 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

“We deployed a robot into the front door after several other methods including chemical agents and throwing a throw phone in (didn't work.) The robot went in, went up the stairs and found the deceased male's body inside,” said Van Houten.

Investigators believe Anderson had been dead for several hours. Van Houten suspects Anderson shot himself shortly after he shot at officers.

Officials said Anderson's home was in foreclosure and the utilities had been shut off for some time. ..Source.. by ANICA PADILLA

Officials ID rape suspect who committed suicide near Puyallup

1-2-2011 Washington:

The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department has released the name of the man who apparently killed himself early Friday after he allegedly raped a neighbor.

The suicide of Scott David Shindle, 44, ended a five-hour standoff in the 11400 block of 63rd Street Court East just outside Puyallup, sheriff’s spokesman detective Ed Troyer said.

Shindle allegedly lured a neighbor into his home Thursday night and sexually assaulted her. The woman escaped about 9 p.m., got help from her neighbors and called 911, Troyer said. The Sheriff’s Department was not identifying the victim.

Troyer said deputies tried to negotiate with Shindle, but he barricaded himself in the home near Puyallup’s city limits and refused to leave.

Deputies evacuated neighboring houses. They fired flash grenades through windows, broke down a door and sent in a robot. By the time the robot reached Shindle, he had apparently shot himself, Troyer said. ..Source.. by THE NEWS TRIBUNE

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Suspected rapist kills self

1-1-2011 Washington:

A Pierce County man suspected of raping a neighbor killed himself early Friday morning while sheriff’s deputies prepared to arrest him.

The suspect’s suicide ended a five-hour standoff in the 11400 block of 63rd Street Court East just outside Puyallup, sheriff’s spokesman Detective Ed Troyer said.

Deputies have not released the man’s name or age. The county medical examiner’s office was trying to reach his immediate family Friday.

He allegedly lured a neighbor into his home Thursday night and sexually assaulted her. The woman escaped about 9 p.m., got help from her neighbors and called 911, Troyer said.

Deputies arrived shortly afterward with a SWAT unit. Troyer said they tried to negotiate with the suspect, who they believed had a felony arrest record.

The suspect barricaded himself in the home near Puyallup’s city limit and refused to leave.

“Obviously we weren’t going to let him go, because he was armed,” Troyer said.

Deputies evacuated neighboring houses and prepared to enter the home about 2 a.m. Friday. They fired flash grenades through windows, broke down a door and sent in a robot. The robot discovered the suspect, who apparently had shot himself, Troyer said.

Troyer said the woman received care at a hospital and was released to her family.

The scene startled neighbors, who stayed up late into the night to watch the standoff unfold.

“We’re just a small, quiet Puyallup neighborhood,” Monica Flores told KIRO-TV. “With this happening, it’s pretty scary.” ..Source.. by Adam Ashton

Accused child molester commits suicide during Port Wentworth traffic stop

5-13-2010 Georgia:

An accused child molester from Bloomingdale fatally shot himself during a brief roadside standoff Wednesday morning in Port Went-worth.

Richard A. Wiley, 55, had been sought by authorities on child molestation charges since Saturday morning, according to Bloomingdale police Chief Thomas Gossett.

Shortly before 11 a.m. Wednesday, a Bloomingdale officer driving an unmarked vehicle spotted Wiley in a black Chevrolet pickup in Port Wentworth, Gossett said.

The officer summoned marked Port Wentworth police units; the truck pulled over on Ga. 21 at the busy Interstate 95 interchange.

As officers approached, Wiley "immediately placed the gun to his temple," Port Wentworth police Capt. Matthew Libby said, explaining that for about two minutes, the police did their best to persuade Wiley to put the gun down. "We're very lucky nobody else was injured or killed."

The incident shut down Ga. 21 for much of the morning.

Gossett didn't disclose details of the child molestation charges, but he did offer a grim assessment of the suicidal result.

"It's a terrible outcome, bad for everybody involved," Gossett said. "It's not what we wanted, obviously." ..Source.. by Michael Atkins

Sex offender commits suicide during standoff in Sandy

2-25-2010 Oregon:

A man found dead after a police standoff in Sandy was a convicted sex offender who visited Philomath High School under a fake name in December — and who was wanted by Lebanon police for allegedly committing recent sex crimes.

Steven Routley, 35, apparently shot himself Wednesday afternoon at a residence in Sandy where he’d reportedly been staying.

Police were seeking Routley on charges of second-degree sexual abuse, third-degree sexual abuse, being a felon in possession of a firearm, using a child in a sexual display and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The charges stemmed from contact with high school students in the past two weeks.

According to Sandy Police Department spokesman Lewis Sytsma, at about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, members of the Portland Police Bureau and the U.S. Marshals Service attempted to serve an arrest warrant on Routley near the 37900 block of Highway 26 in Sandy.

Sandy police were called to assist after Routley ran into a nearby house. Authorities believed Routley was armed, and they knew he had an extensive criminal history, so the Clackamas County Interagency SWAT team was called in. For several hours, the SWAT team tried to make contact with Routley but was unsuccessful. The team also fired tear gas into the house.

At about 3:35 p.m, the SWAT team entered the room where they thought they would find Routley — and found his body.

“We believe (death) was from a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Sytsma said.

No one else was believed to have been in the residence at the time. Routley reportedly had been working at the residence.

Neighboring businesses and residences were evacuated during the standoff. Highway 26 was closed in both directions in the area around the house.

Lebanon detectives went to Sandy on Wednesday afternoon to assist with the investigation.

In December, Routley used a fake name to sign in as a guest at Philomath High School, and he visited an art class. While he was there, he was overheard offering to give students private lessons. School officials said he never was left alone with any students.

On Jan. 14, a man called the Benton County Sheriff’s Office to report that Routley had tried to invite his daughter to be his “friend” on Facebook, the online social networking site.

Routley had served a 15-year prison term in Michigan for two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under 13. He was released from prison in May 2009 and was no longer under corrections or parole supervision.

In response to Routley’s visit in December, Philomath School District officials changed the check-in procedure for visitors and had been examining whether criminal charges against Routley could be pursued.

When contacted by phone last month, Routley told a Gazette-Times reporter that he “didn’t recall” signing into Philomath High School with a fake name. He declined to comment further, saying “I’m sure whatever I say, you’ll manipulate it by the time it hits the paper.”

Routley updated his sex offender registration with a southeast Portland address in mid-January, according to Oregon State Police.

Lebanon Det. Sgt. Kevin Martinez told the Lebanon Express that Routley also is a subject of interest in investigations in Michigan and the Portland area. ..Source.. by Rachel Beck, Gazette-Times


Standoff for sex offender ends in his death

SANDY, Ore. – A wanted sex offender ran from police Wednesday prompting a response from SWAT and a traffic tie-up for hours on Highway 26. A law enforcement source said they found the man dead in a home but said officers fired no shots. They said 35-year-old Steven Routley died from a self-inflicted wound.

This area is 11 miles southeast of Gresham on Highway 26.

Just before 2:30 p.m. Wednesday residents reported hearing several loud booms. Law enforcement told us that those were smoke grenades thrown into the home in an attempt to smoke out their suspect.

Agents entered the home around 2:40 p.m. Around 3:30 p.m. the scene was being cleared.

Behind the scenes

Routley was a registered sex offender facing new charges out of Lebanon, Ore., Sergeant Kevin Martinez with Oregon's Lebanon Police Department confirmed.

On Jan. 28 of this year, KATU reported on Routley's alleged attempt to get into a Philomath, Ore., high school using a fake name. Philomath Police Chief Ken Elwer said an officer talked to Routley. However, even though Routley is a convicted sex offender, he is not on supervision and thus Elwer said that him being at the school did not violate any laws.

A law enforcement source said Routley was holed up in his stepmother's home.

Police said they believed Routley was armed with a 9 mm handgun.

At the scene

Witnesses at the scene said they counted as many as 17 law enforcement vehicles Wednesday afternoon.

Traffic in and out of town on Highway 26 was closed in both directions until around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Traffic also was shut down between University Avenue, at mile post 23.65, and Southeast Bluff Road, at mile post 23.87. Those in town could detour around the scene.

The Oregon Department of Transportation had established a marked detour for passenger vehicles. The detour followed Bluff Road to Meeker Street back to Highway 26 in both directions. Trucks were being turned back. Motorists experienced "long delays."

Near the site of the law-enforcement convergence, a woman at the Les Schwab tire store at 37895 Highway 26 said those inside the store were "trapped" until officers leave. They were cautiously "hiding behind tires," she said.

Routley's history

Sergeant Kevin Martinez with Oregon's Lebanon Police Department said the new charges against Routley out of Lebanon were reported to police on Feb. 22 and involved a 16 year old. He said the charges stem from acts within the past two weeks.

Lebanon police had charged Routley with the following: using a child in the display of sexually explicit conduct (used a visual recording device to record the victim in sexually explicit poses); sex abuse 2; sex abuse 3; contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor; and two charges of being a felon in possession of a weapon.

In 1995, Routley was sentenced to up to 15 years for second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under 13. He served his prison time in Michigan and was released in 2009. ..Source.. by Jennifer Meacham and KATU News

Inmate hangs himself in Buncombe jail

2-21-2010 North Carolina:

ASHEVILLE — An Asheville man facing child sex offense charges committed suicide by hanging himself Saturday in the Buncombe County jail, authorities said.

Michael Todd Aidt, 36, of Hensley Drive, was found hanging by a sheet in his cell by a detention officer who was conducting supervision rounds around 8:30 p.m., Lt. Ross Dillingham said.

He said officers immediately removed Aidt from the sheet, and on-site detention medical personnel attempted to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Aidt had been jailed since Dec. 6 following an armed standoff with deputies at a mobile home on Dillingham Circle off Riceville Road. Deputies responded to a call after a suspect barricaded himself inside the residence with a shotgun.

The standoff ended peacefully after deputies deployed a chemical into the home and the suspect exited, Dillingham said.

Aidt was charged with two counts of first-degree rape of a child younger than 13, two counts of statutory rape of a child younger than 16, and one count of sex offense in incidents dating from 2005-2009, according to arrest warrants. He was being held on a $500,000 secured bond.

Terrie Lynn Davis, 35, of Hensley Drive, was charged in December with two counts of accessory after the fact to Aidt’s alleged crimes. Davis told the victim not to report the rapes, according to arrest warrants. ..Source.. by Clarke Morrison

Autopsy shows man in standoff killed self

12-21-2009 Georgia:

Details are few in the death of a 33-year-old accused child molester in a standoff with police Saturday night.

ST. MARYS - An accused child molester's fatal injuries indicate that he had shot himself to death during a standoff with St. Marys police on Saturday, a crime lab autopsy showed.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting death of 33-year-old Robert Dane at Sugarmill, a mid-range subdivision with hundreds of homes.

The GBI and police have released little information about the standoff and subsequent death, but Sheriff Tommy Gregory said Sunday that the victim died at 6:05 p.m., an hour after St. Marys police arrived at a home on the 100 block of Natures Bounty Trail to serve a bench warrant.

NY- POLICE: SUSPECT GRABBED DETECTIVE'S GUN, SHOT & INJURED DETECTIVE, THEN KILLED SELF

5-27-2009 New York:

A three-hour standoff at the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office ended when the suspect shot and killed himself, police said.

In a press conference this evening, the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office said an investigation was ongoing into the standoff , which left one detective injured from a grazing gunshot. The detective was treated and released from Saint Francis Hospital.

The sheriff's office refused to release the name of the detective or the suspect, citing the ongoing investigation the office is conducting. The Journal learned the suspect was Ken-Tweal Catts, 30.

Suspect's background

Catts was a level-three sex offender. He was described as a black Hispanic who was six feet tall, 172 pounds with black hair and brown eyes, according to the New York State Department of Justice Web site.

His last reported address was a hotel in Hyde Park.

Catts entered a guilty plea on January 27, 2004 for first-degree sexual assault, a felony. Catts had told Dutchess County Court Judge Thomas J. Dolan that he touched a 17-year-old woman and forced her to touch him in an apartment building on Main Street in 2002. On March 11, 2004, he was sentenced to two years in state prison.

Struggle, shooting

Catts was brought into the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office for questioning in an alleged sexual offense case. He was scheduled to be arrested and arraigned, the sheriff's office said.

Two detectives were in the room for the interview, which was wrapping up, when a struggle ensued. Catts grabbed a detective's gun and fired, the sheriff's office said.

“While being prepared for arraignment, the suspect attempted to escape and struggled with a detective, gaining control of the detective’s weapon,” Sheriff Butch Anderson said in a prepared statement.

Undersheriff Kirk Imperati said the gun was a 40-caliber semiautomatic pistol.

The man then barricaded himself in an unoccupied office. About three hours later, Imperati said, members of the sheriff’s Emergency Services Unit heard a gunshot, entered the office and found the man dead on the floor.

Detective treated, released

The wounded detective was identified by sources close to the investigation as Matthew Burhans.

Imperati said a bullet grazed the detective on the side of his head. He was treated at Saint Francis Hospital and released.

Back to normal

Roads around the sheriff's office in the City of Poughkeepsie have been reopened after being closed much of the afternoon. Sheriff's office employees who had been cleared out of the building were let back in after the incident ended with the suspects' death. Correction officers, however, were being allowed in and out of the jail, which is adjacent to the sheriff's office.

Rare occurrence

The armed standoff at the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office today was apparently unprecedented.

Those with years of experience in law enforcement cannot recall anything similar ever happening before in either Dutchess or Ulster counties.

A number of them were asked if they could remember a hostage situation or armed standoff in a local police station or town hall – where local court sessions typically take place.

Former Dutchess County Sheriff Fred Scoralick said in his 20 years as sheriff –1979-99, as well as all his years in county law enforcement stretching to 1962 -- he could not recall a similar event taking place.

“Not in the years I was there,” said Scoralick, a Town of Beekman resident.
Ditto for Ulster County Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum, who has been in county law enforcement for 33 years. He did, however, remember reading in the newspaper in the late 1980s of the shooting in upstate New York – possibly Onondaga County – of two police officers by a prisoner.

“In court, an inmate grabbed a gun from an officer and a couple of officers got shot,” Van Blarcum said.

Capt. Bob Nuzzo, commander of New York State Police Troop K in Millbrook, said that Wednesday’s armed standoff provoked no memories of anything similar during his 22 years on the force.

“Nothing that I can recall,” he said.

Captain Paul Lecomte of the Town of Poughkeepsie police said outside of the occasional suspect resisting arrest, he couldn’t remember in his 29 years on the force of an officer having his or her weapon taken by a suspect.

Town of LaGrange Supervisor Jon Wagner, a retired detective with the Poughkeepsie town police, said he also could not recollect a situation mirroring Wednesday’s at the sheriff’s office. Wagner had a 22-year career with the town police, beginning in 1981.

“I can’t recall .... and I was a hostage negotiator,” Wagner said.

Evacuation

The incident unfolded inside the sheriff's office. Outside, police cars and other emergency vehicles responded, necessitating the closing of the street.

"We have a dangerous person in the building. It's a contained situation," Sheriff's Deputy TJ Hanlon said during a 2:15 p.m. press conference. The press conference was held at the intersection of High Street and North Hamilton Street, about two blocks from the jail at 150 North Hamilton St.

City of Poughkeepsie Capt. Steven Minard, acting chief because Chief Ron Knapp is on vacation, said city police were assisting the sheriff's office.

The sheriff's hostage negotiation team was deployed, but when asked if there was a hostage, Hanlon declined comment at the time.

Residents in the area were not being allowed into their homes, Hanlon said. One woman was arrested when allegedly she ignored police who tried to stop her.

Standoff drew police, crowds

City of Poughkeepsie Police Department Mobile Command Unit, emergency services from the city and town of Poughkeepsie, as well as the sheriff's emergency service unit were on the scene. Members of the FBI were observed as well.

Poughkeepsie Mayor John Tkazyik was there, as weredozens of bystanders on the road. Police tape blocked sidewalks.

"It has the potential to be a very serious situation," Tkazyik said earlier in the afternoon.

Tkazyik said there was no immediate threat to the public or the neighborhood.

Tasha Vailes 36, of the Bronx, was at the jail visiting her brother.

“They kicked everyone out of the visiting room, then they told them to get out of the building,” she said, noting she had come all the way up from New York City and only got to see her brother for 15 minutes. ..Source.. by PoughkeepsieJournal.com

GA- Man shoots himself during police standoff

5-25-2006 Georgia:

.WINDER — A man accused of child pornography possession shot himself Monday when authorities tried to arrest him at his home in Winder. Sam Summerville, 60, retreated into his home at 251 Natchez Circle when police and federal agents showed up shortly after 3 p.m. to arrest him for failing to appear in court, according to Special Agent Stephen Emmett, spokesman for the FBI in Atlanta. Before officers could get to Summerville, he shot himself, Emmett said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Summerville was supposed to stand trial in federal court last week for five counts of possessing child pornography, but he never appeared, Emmett said. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest.

A year ago, Summerville was arrested at the Huntcrest Publix off Old Peachtree Road in Lawrenceville, near his former residence in that city. It was unclear how long he been living in the Winder subdivision. Neighbor Lafae Duggan said Summerville lived with his mother, but she rarely saw either of them. She was outside sweeping when police arrived to make the arrest. “I heard the police yelling to open the door,” Duggan said. “Then I went and grabbed my 3-year-old daughter and went inside. I saw all the guns, there was lots of policemen around the house and I didn’t want my daughter to witness any of it.” A mother of two girls, ages 3 and 9, Duggan was unaware that the man down the street had a criminal history.

They say he had a warrants for child pornography,” Duggan said. “I had no idea that we had somebody like that so close. That is a scary thought.” Another neighbor, Sheila Spoto, was equally alarmed at Monday’s events. “That’s up the street from us,” said Spoto, who is pregnant. “I didn’t know anything about that. It’s scary.” Summerville’s arrest was the result of an investigation by the Safe Child Task Force, an FBI-led coalition of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies that targets pedophiles, child molesters and the producers of child pornography. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation will be assisting the FBI with investigating Monday’s shooting, Emmett said. ..Source.. by Andria Simmons, Staff Writer