Standoff With Suicidal Gunman Ends Safely Deputies Knock Down Man With Beanbag Fired From Shotgun
Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies surrounded the home of a suicidal Coeur d’Alene man Monday night after he fired a gun in his house and threatened to come out shooting. Deputies ended the four-hour standoff by shooting Buck Brooks with a beanbag fired from a 12-gauge shotgun, Sheriff Pierce Clegg said.
“He’ll be bruised tomorrow, but he’s alive,” Clegg said. “There is a happy end to this.”
Sheriff’s deputies, Idaho State Police and Coeur d’Alene city officers were called to Brooks’ home on Fernwood Lane about 5:30 p.m. Monday after a neighbor reported hearing gunshots.
Brooks told the neighbor, “I’m tired of it all, call the cops in half an hour,”’ according to Capt. Ben Wolfinger. The neighbor then heard a shot.
The sheriff’s department Special Response Unit and a negotiator were brought in. Deputies were able to evacuate Brooks’ wife, who had come home before deputies arrived, Wolfinger said.
Officers could see the man walking around in his house with a handgun and a rifle.
“He threatened to come out with guns blazing so that we would shoot him,” Wolfinger said.
Authorities sealed off two blocks around the house, not allowing some residents to return to their homes. Deputies were unable to evacuate homes next door to Brooks because of the danger of shots being fired. Instead, they warned residents to duck down on the far sides of their homes.
Brooks talked for awhile with negotiators but then stopped, pulling two phones out of the wall, Wolfinger said.
About 9:30, Brooks came out of his house with a gun, Wolfinger said. Deputies set off an explosive that made a bright flash and boom to divert Brooks’ attention. They then shot him with the beanbag, Clegg said.
Brooks, 41, was taken to Kootenai Medical Center where he was expected to be held for a mental evaluation.
Deputies responded to his home earlier in the day because of a dispute between Brooks and his wife, Wolfinger said. Officers suspected he was distraught due to a medical condition.
“This guy wanted us to kill him and that was the last thing we wanted to do,” Wolfinger said.
It is the second time in little more than a week that sheriff’s deputies have responded to such a situation.
On Dec. 8, officers surrounded Robert K. Mills’ Twin Lakes condominium. Mills, 54, had called 911 and threatened to kill himself and others. He fired at least eight shots at deputies, barely missing one officer.
A deputy, whose name has not been released, shot and killed Mills when the man came outside carrying a rifle.
, DataTimes MEMO: Cut in the Spokane edition