CLINTON, Iowa — An Illinois man who held a woman hostage in her Clinton office for six hours Monday released her unharmed and then shot and killed himself, a Clinton police spokesman said.

Police did not identify the man or the woman, but they believe the couple was married and in their 30s or 40s, and that Monday’s hostage situation began with a domestic problem.

The man entered the Iowa Workforce Development office at 2740 S. 17th St. around 2 p.m. and took the woman to his vehicle in the parking lot, said Capt. Mike Gertson of the Clinton Police Department. After sitting in the vehicle, the man and woman returned to the office where the man brandished a weapon believed to be a shotgun, told everyone in the office to leave, and barricaded himself and the woman inside the office, Gertson said.

After about six hours, negotiators reached an agreement with the man to have him release the woman, exit the building and surrender himself, Gertson said.

The woman was released unharmed, but after she left the building the man shot himself, Gertson said.

The woman was taken to the Clinton Police station for debriefing, Gertson said.

Officers cleared the nearby Blain’s Farm & Fleet parking lot east of the office about 7 p.m. because they received information that the gunman might have a high-powered rifle in addition to the shotgun.

Kerry Koonce, spokeswoman for Iowa Workforce Development, said the office would not be open Tuesday. Clinton police were still on the scene late Monday night. Counseling will be made available to employees, she said.

Throughout the standoff, dozens of onlookers gathered in the Home Depot parking lot just west of the scene, taking photos and updating others by cell phone and text messages. Several people said they did not know the people involved, but were just curious about what was going on.

Cathy Wiebel, the director of Iowa@Work region 9, which covers Clinton, referred media calls to the police.

Koonce said the office did not have a security guard. She did not know the number of people who work in the office and referred other questions to police.

The Gateway Area Hazardous Entry and Approach Team, made up of officers from the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department and the police departments from Clinton, Camanche, DeWitt and Fulton, Ill., responded to the scene. Officers from the Iowa State Patrol also assisted.

Several nearby businesses, including McDonald’s, Village Inn and Carpetland, were closed during the standoff.

Iowa Workforce Development handles the state’s unemployment services and offers employment assistance to businesses. The Clinton office is one of 57 local offices of the state agency. 

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