Casper Police: Suspect Wasn’t In the House When Police Entered
Lieutenant Jeffrey Bullard with the Casper Police Department updated the community on the ongoing active situation involving an armed suspect who had, reportedly, barricaded himself inside of a home.
Now, Lt. Bullard is stating that the suspect wasn't in the house when police entered.
"We had an armed subject barricade [himself] in his house," Lt. Bullard told reporters who were on the scene. "[We wanted to go] through this in a thorough, systematic, and safe process to keep the members of the public that live in the area and the school; we wanted to keep everybody safe. So we [set up] the perimeter, we did our investigation slow, systematically. We got into the house and discovered the subject was not there, ultimately."
Lt. Bullard stated because the suspect was not in the home, there was not any ongoing threat to the public in the area.
Read More: BREAKING: Casper Police Warn of Armed, Barricaded Suspect in the Area of 15th and Westridge Place
"I just want to stress to the public that we don't have any ongoing threat related to this incident tonight," Lt. Bullard stated. "There's more to this investigation that's going to be continuing but again, as far as the public safety factor goes here in the area - it's safe to come back, to go back home and go to bed tonight."
Lt. Bullard could not confirm or deny whether the suspect was ever in the home throughout the afternoon and evening, but did state that the Casper Police Department would issue a press release with more information on Thursday.
Lt. Bullard commended the Casper Police Department, the Natrona County School District, and the parents and students of Cottonwood Elementary School and Dean Morgan Junior High on how well everybody worked on ensuring the safety of students and teachers throughout the situation.
K2 Radio News will update this story with more information as it becomes available.