Officers shot, injured in Metro East standoff

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By The Associated Press | Saturday, November 11, 2006 1:03 AM CST | () comments

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) — A suspect sought in connection with the slayings of a Swansea couple was found dead Friday night inside a home where a police officer had been shot during an earlier exchange of gunfire, authorities said.

Illinois State Police SWAT team members entered the house about 8 p.m. and found the suspect dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, said Rick Weissenborn, deputy commander of the St. Louis area major case squad.

Weissenborn said the suspect had apparently killed himself several hours before being found.

“We did everything that we could to get the suspect to come out peacefully, apparently he took a different route,” Weissenborn said.

A “long gun” of some sort also was found inside the house, which had been laden with various “obstructions,” said Weissenborn, who declined to go in to further detail.

Weissenborn said the home belonged to an acquaintance of the suspect and nobody else was found inside.

Earlier Friday, one police officer was shot and another was injured when police exchanged gunfire with the suspect as they tried to execute a search warrant on the house about a mile south of Swansea and 15 miles east of St. Louis. Officers had surrounded the building when shots were fired, Weissenborn said.

Authorities said Sgt. Jon Brough was shot. Brough was out of surgery and in critical condition Friday night at Saint Louis University Hospital, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Belleville Police Department Chief David Ruebhausen said the other officer suffered minor injuries after being hit by flying glass.

The SWAT team had spent about a half-hour Friday evening parked in front of the house in an armored vehicle, trying to negotiate with the suspect through a loudspeaker as storms rolled in.

“I know you’ve been in there a long time, I know you’re scared,” a negotiator said. “You don’t have to be scared, you can trust me on that.”

The negotiator told the suspect he would not be hurt and said if the suspect needed anything, he had to ask for it.

“It’s a simple request, let me know you’re OK,” the negotiator said.

The SWAT vehicle pulled back from the house after getting no response.

Earlier negotiations, which had begun after the gunfire, had broken down late Friday afternoon, Ruebhausen said. The state police SWAT team then took over from a Belleville police team.

“We’re not going to send in the same guys,” Ruebhausen said at the time, choking back tears.

Ruebhausen said the officer’s family was with him at the St. Louis hospital. “He’s still with us,” Ruebhausen said. “I just don’t have anything medically to tell you.”

Police arrived at the home Friday in search of a man who is wanted in the Thursday killings of Henry Kahle, 79, and his wife, Dolores, 69, police said.

Assistant Swansea Police Chief Mike Arnold has said the male victim’s body was discovered lying in the driveway in front of a garage, and the woman was found dead in the home’s master bedroom.

St. Clair County Coroner Rick Stone said a glass storm door at the Swansea home had been shattered and both victims appeared to have suffered puncture wounds.