City of Columbia Missouri Police Department

600 E. Walnut Street
Columbia, MO 65201

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 16, 2016

CONTACT: Bryana Larimer
Public Information Officer
(573) 817-5049
[email protected]create new email

Incident in the 1600 block of Woodmoor Court

(COLUMBIA, MO) -

Columbia Police officers responded last night to the 1600 block of Woodmoor Court in reference to a verbal threat. At 6:16 p.m., Boone County Joint Communications received a report that a female subject was yelling at her neighbors and threatening to shoot them. According to the complainant no firearm was exhibited at that time. Officers arrived on scene at approximately 6:46 p.m. and attempted to make contact with the female by knocking on the front door. At that time the female exited the rear of the residence with a shotgun and neighbors who could see over the privacy fence alerted officers that the suspect was in the backyard with the gun. Officers retreated to a position of cover and called for additional assistance, including Crisis Intervention Team officers. After a brief period of time, the suspect went back inside the residence. Officers began attempting to contact the suspect via the Public Address (PA) system while they gathered information. According to information they were able to obtain, the 53-year-old suspect and her 80-year-old mother lived at the residence and both reportedly suffer from mental health issues.

As additional officers arrived, a perimeter was established.  Officers continued to make contact via the PA as well as attempted to contact the suspect and her mother via cell phone, but neither would answer. The Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT)/Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) Commander was notified and began directing those team members to the scene. CNT officers arrived and attempted to make contact with the suspect, but were also unsuccessful. At approximately 10:40 p.m., the decision was made to use the SWAT armored vehicle, known as the Bearcat, to safely get closer to the residence in a continued effort to make contact with the suspect. Once the vehicle was deployed, CNT continued to attempt contact with the suspect using the PA. Contact was still unsuccessful.

After attempting contact for approximately 6.5 hours with no results, and assessing the risk of fatigue to officers on scene, the decision was made to withdraw SWAT/CNT and use a different tactic in hopes of peacefully taking the suspect into custody. Since the time of that withdraw, officers have remained in the immediate area in order to apprehend the suspect if she exits the residence.

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City of Columbia Vision
Columbia is the best place for everyone to live, work, learn and play.

City of Columbia Mission
To serve the public equitably through democratic, transparent and efficient government.

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