Armed standoff in Bloomington ends in death
On March 10, 2023, at approximately 5:10 p.m., officers with the Bloomington Police Department responded to a residence in the 3300 block of N Kingsley Drive in reference to a 911 call of a man at the residence who was armed with a handgun and holding hostages inside. First arriving officers made contact with the juvenile complainant who reported that a man inside the residence was intoxicated and pointing a handgun at individuals while threatening to kill them. The juvenile and another sibling had escaped from the house and called 911 for help.
Due to the man being armed with a handgun and holding hostages inside the residence, members of the Critical Incident Response Team as well as the Crisis Negotiation Team responded to the scene. The Crisis Negotiation Team is a group of highly trained officers and a Police Social Worker that work to establish communication with individuals to de-escalate situations. A Crisis Negotiator was able to make FaceTime contact with the man and observed that the man was holding a handgun while making threats to kill a hostage inside the house as well as officers on scene. The Crisis Negotiator spoke with the man for approximately 40 minutes and attempted to get the man to release the hostage from the residence, but the man refused. The man threatened to kill himself and officers multiple times and also refused to exit the residence without the gun in his possession. At 6:31 p.m. while still speaking with a Crisis Negotiator, the 46-year-old man shot himself in the kitchen of the residence and the 76-year-old hostage was able to flee from the house to safety.
No other individuals were injured during the event. The Monroe County Coroner responded to the scene and took possession of the body. The name of the decedent is not being released at this time, as the investigation is ongoing. No further information is available for release.
Update on Indiana Senate Bill 48: child sex offenses
The House Courts and Criminal Code Committee heard SB 48 on child sex offenses sponsored by Rep. McNamara and Rep. Rowray. Author Sen. Crider introduced the bill explaining that the bill amends the human trafficking law passed last year and authorizes sex offenses against children to be prosecuted beyond the statute of limitations if certain new evidence is found.
The Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council testified in support of the bill, and the Indiana Public Defender Council testified in opposition to the bill. The bill passed 12-0.
Read the bill at: https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2023/bills/senate/48
Utilities and Public Works update Bloomington City Council on facilities swap
During Wednesday night’s City Council meeting, City of Bloomington Utilities (CBU) Director Vic Kelson and Department of Public Works (DPW) Director Adam Wason updated Council Members on the recommended move of CBU to the Winston Thomas site and centralizing DPW at the current Miller Drive campus. The Winston Thomas site offers many benefits as CBU envisions its operations for future generations. As the community continues to grow in population and activity, more residents and facilities will need access to water, wastewater, and stormwater services resulting in an increase in infrastructure. Since CBU has already outgrown its current service center and storage facilities, this move satisfies current and future needs.
Kelson explained during his presentation that CBU is “bursting at the seams” at their current Miller Drive site. CBU does not have the capacity to hold enough inventory, which has been a growing particular problem in recent years due to supply chain issues. Ideally, they would like to have enough stock on hand so that a lack of inventory would not delay projects. Utilizing the Winston Thomas site would allow for a covered storage yard and garage facilities with ample space for expansion as demand grows.
Wason explained that DPW is spread throughout Bloomington, and their goal is to purchase the Miller Drive location from CBU and centrally locate DPW in that location. Wason described this type of facility reuse as something the City of Bloomington does well, and the current CBU Service Center is in excellent condition. DPW’s street and fleet divisions are already located at the Miller Drive campus.
The administration and departments look forward to working with the City Council and furthering robust discussion throughout this process. Read the previous release about the reuse of the Winston Thomas site here: https://bton.in/n7PXM. The full video presentation to Council is available at: https://bton.in/Ws74T
Ivy Tech Center for Lifelong Learning class schedule announced
Visit ivytech.edu/CLL to browse offerings.
Youth summer programs are now available for registration online at ivytech.edu/CLL!
This Week in Hoosier History
1928 – Frank Borman, Commander of Apollo 8, was born in Gary Indiana. Borman and his crew were the first to fly around the moon.
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