NEENAH, WI (WTAQ) – Late Wednesday night, at approximately 11:40 p.m., Neenah Police officers were alerted to an individual who was threatening another individual in the 400 block of Quarry Lane.
The initial information indicated that a white male, in his early 30’s, was intoxicated and had several weapons at his disposal.
“Alcohol and threats of weapons, all that stuff, it just never mixes,” explains officer Stuart Zuehls with the Neenah Police Department. “It’s never a good thing.”
It turns out that this individual was not a stranger to those within the Neenah Police Department.
“Well we had contact with this individual a few times over the last week to two weeks,” explains officer Zuehls.
He says they don’t have information available to elaborate on the nature of those previous encounters with law enforcement.
Based on the officer’s initial investigation, the police department deemed the information to be credible.
Upon the officer’s arrival at the residence, the male barricaded himself inside his home.
Further information was relayed to the officers indicated that the subject had armed himself with a firearm and was threatening to shoot law enforcement if they attempted to enter his residence.
The officers surrounded the residence and the Neenah Police SWAT Team and negotiators were called in.
Due to the cold weather, the Neenah Police Department also requested assistance from the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office, Appleton Police Department, Menasha Police Department, FoxCrossing Police Department, and the Wisconsin State Patrol.
At that time, the goal was to establish successful negotiations with the suspect, which would ultimately lead to his surrender without further incident.
“We started our negotiations, as well, they were hit-and-miss a little bit throughout the night,” explains Officer Zuehls. “Finally we ended up breaching the door.”
Officer Zuehls points out that the decision to breach the residency came after several hours of failed negotiations between the suspect and the negotiators. The call to breach the front door with an armored vehicle came after the suspect stopped communicating with negotiators.
Within minutes, the best possible outcome was achieved.
“So we breached the door, we got a search warrant, the guy came out and surrendered,” he says.
On Thursday, the Neenah Police Department is carrying out a search warrant to search the suspect’s property.
For those involved, it’s a relief that everybody came away from the incident without injury.
“Milwaukee just lost their officer, rest in peace, in a search warrant,” says officer Zuehls. “So we’re really glad it ended the way that it ended.”
