Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Lake City, MN: Shooting suspect found dead in Lake City home

LAKE CITY — At 5:45 p.m. today, a SWAT team entered the Lake City house where shooting suspect Alan J. Sylte Jr. was believed to be holed up. Lights flashed in the windows of the home as the team barn-style house.

About 10 minutes later, a call came on the radio: Sylte's body had been found on the second floor. He died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.

A long-armed bomb squad machine was used by authorities to smash the house's door at about 3:40 p.m., and a robot with a video camera was used to search the main floor of the house.

Sylte, 25, of Hager City, Wis., is suspected of shooting Lake City Police Officer Shawn Schneider in the head just after 8:30 a.m. Monday after Schneider and another officer were called to the house at 618 W. Lyon Ave. on a report of a domestic dispute. Schneider is a nine-year officer with Lake City.

Schneider is in critical condition in Saint Marys Hospital in Rochester after being airlifted by Mayo One helicopter. The officer was unable to speak, but has been able to respond by squeezing his wife's hand, said Gary Majchrzak, the Lake City police chief, who visited Schneider earlier in the day. Schneider and his wife have three children. He started working for the Lake City Police Department in 2003. The department has 10 sworn officers.

Lake City's school children remained locked in their schools until 6 p.m. as law enforcement tried to determine for certain that Sylte was still in the house. Residents in neighboring homes were evacuated. Parents raced to the schools to retrieve their children after watching and waiting most of the day.

"My kids are HOME!!! This is a day they and I will not forget. My thoughts and prayers are with the LC police officer shot this morning," one mother posted on Twitter Monday night.

Phillip Leonard, 9, a fourth-grader, and his brother Hayden Leonard, 11, a sixth-grader, at Bluff View Elementary, said the day was a mixture of emotions.

"It was kind of scary because you didn't know what was going," Phillip said. "They made us sit in the classroom for a long time. They said it was a lockdown, but that was all."

The Leonards were picked up with their sisters about 7:15 p.m.

Hayden said they spent the entire time in the classroom and needed an escort to the bathroom. Lunch was delivered to the classroom. The choice was a sandwich or a bagel. Hayden chose a ham, cheese and lettuce sandwich.

As school kids sat in their classrooms, a negotiations specialist was called in to attempt to reach Sytle on Monday afternoon, talking over a PA system and asking him to answer his cellphone.

Sylte was described as 5-feet, 11-inches tall and 195 pounds with blue eyes and short blond hair.

Wabasha County Sheriff Rodney Bartsch explained authorities' caution in determining whether Sylte was in the house, saying there was information that Sylte might have had some military training.

"For people who say this can't happen in a small community, it did," Bartsch said. "We train for this in law enforcement every day, because it can happen, and we hope it doesn't happen again."

Lake City Mayor Jerry Dunbar called the day's events "a very sad and unfortunate day for our community, not to mention the pain and suffering that officer Shawn and his family are having to endure." He referred to Schneider as "Officer Shawn" at times, noting the officer's standing in the community.

Officers from the Wabasha County Sheriff’s Office, Lake City police, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Minnesota State Patrol, the Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office and the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office all responded to the scene.

Prior to the shooting, a citizen took a female to the hospital, authorities said. Her injuries are believed to have occurred during an altercation at the house.

Lake City’s schools, including Lincoln High School, Lincoln Middle School and Bluff View Elementary, went into lockdown mode as a precaution, school officials said.

Lake City Superintendent Craig Junker said the schools would remain in lockdown until authorities advised them it is clear. Elementary schools normally dismiss at 2:50 p.m., while middle and high school dismiss at 3:15 p.m.. Lake City has 1,250 students in the district and 165 on staff.

Likewise, St. John’s Lutheran School went into lockdown at 8:50 a.m. after the school was contacted by a Lake CIty official who said there had been a shooting in the area, Principal Kurt Maciejczak said.

Annikka Nicholas of Lake City, who lives a few blocks from the site, said police knocked on her door and told her to remain inside.

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