Another article in the Olympian paper.
SWAT standoff ends well
Near Lacey: Police say man wielded sword
JEREMY PAWLOSKI; Staff writer | • Published September 25, 2010
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A 59-year-old man’s more than five-hour standoff with Thurston County’s SWAT team ended safely Friday afternoon when he was apprehended inside his home on Third Way Southeast, off Kinwood Street in the Tanglewilde area.
SWAT team members had saturated the man’s home with tear gas shot through the windows. About 12:20 p.m., SWAT team members forced their way inside after he had thrown items – including a photo album and a sword – outside from the second floor.
Michael Burr was arrested on suspicion of two counts of felony assault in connection with an alleged attack earlier Friday morning on a clerk at Buddies Grocery and Deli on Martin Way, Thurston County Chief Criminal Deputy James Chamberlain said.
Also according to Chamberlain:
Burr had swung a katana-style sword at the clerk at the deli during a dispute after 4 a.m. No one was injured, according to sheriff’s deputies.
The standoff began after deputies investigating the assault went to Burr’s home about 6:45 a.m. and he answered the door armed with the sword. Deputies knew where to find Burr because they had had earlier contacts with him.
Deputies backed off after Burr refused to drop his sword, and the SWAT team was called in. No one else was inside the home.
By about 12:30 p.m., tired SWAT team members wearing body armor and wielding assault rifles were congratulating one another on a job well done at a staging area on Kinwood Street. They had entered the home through a second-floor window after climbing to the roof using ladders.
“We got him out safely, and nobody got hurt. That’s the important thing,” Chamberlain said.
A SWAT team member trained in negotiations had repeatedly tried to communicate with Burr using a loudspeaker and by hurling a phone through his window, but Burr refused to surrender.
During the standoff, Burr repeatedly stuck his head out of an upstairs bedroom window and shouted at law enforcement officers.
SWAT team members repeatedly shot tear-gas canisters through the home’s windows, and at one point Burr threw one of the canisters back outside, enveloping the street in a smoky haze. Tear gas is a chemical compound that irritates the eyes, nose, mouth and lungs.
Burr also threw the sword and a photo album out the window. Deputies waited to see if he would voluntarily surrender because they did not know if he had other weapons.
Burr, who had recently been suspended from a job with the U.S. Postal Service, was uninjured except for small cuts on his arm.
Outside Buddies Deli on Friday morning, the owner of a coffee stand said Burr’s behavior had become more erratic over the past several months.
“He was a pretty normal guy until a couple of months ago,” coffee stand owner Larry Katzenberger said. He added that Burr had recently started talking about astronomy and said “he thinks he’s discovered something about the moon that nobody knows.”
Katzenberger said Burr’s ramblings did not make sense.
“I just quit talking to him and paying attention to him,” he said. “He just started getting weirder and weirder.”
Chamberlain said Burr’s behavior in communications with law enforcement was consistent with having a mental illness.
The clerk at Buddies said Burr became angry with him Friday morning because he wanted some baseball cards that he had left at the store. The clerk said he couldn’t retrieve the cards until later, and Burr became irate, the clerk said.
Burr left and returned with the sword and took several swings at him, then took a swing at the counter, damaging a credit card machine, the clerk said.
Burr’s neighbors on Third Way also said Burr had behaved strangely.
“Poor Mike,” neighbor Christina Gonzales said. “He exhibited bizarre behavior ever since we moved in here, which is about four years ago – which is sad, because he’s a nice guy.”
Gonzales said the standoff did not surprise her.
“He has not been in his right mind,” she said.
Another neighbor said Burr had recently had a dispute with his girlfriend outside his home.
Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5465 jpawloski@theolympian.com
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