Man Commits Chainsaw Suicide During Police Standoff

[bloodrayne]

G.I. Man Kills Himself In Standoff

SWAT team called in after man barricades himself inside business on Old Highway 30

A Grand Island man killed himself with a chain saw early Wednesday morning during a standoff with law enforcement, the Nebraska State Patrol reported.
Paul E. Smidt Jr., 40, died at the scene, State Patrol spokeswoman Deb Collins said.

Grand Island police Capt. Robert Falldorf said the incident began about 5 p.m. when members of the Police Department attempted to serve a federal arrest warrant on Smidt for being a felon in possession of a shotgun. The officers contacted Smidt at his business, Smidt Lawn Care, 2816 W. Old Highway 30.

Officers called the State Patrol's SWAT team just before 9 p.m. Tuesday, patrol Capt. Fred Ruiz said. The 10-member SWAT team arrived at the scene around midnight.

Police had phone contact with Smidt and continued to negotiate with him in the three hours it took for the SWAT team members, many of whom live outside Grand Island, to assemble, Ruiz said.

Smidt refused to allow officers to enter the building and barricaded himself inside the business. Negotiations continued until after midnight, when the SWAT team entered the business, according to a State Patrol press release.

Ruiz said Smidt, who was armed with a chain saw, fled to a back bathroom and barricaded himself inside. The SWAT team was able to enter the bathroom, and when Smidt refused orders to drop the chain saw, a non-lethal beanbag round was fired at him.

Ruiz described the beanbag as approximately 1 inch square. He said the device is used to try to gain compliance from a person without causing serious injury.

According to the patrol's press release, Smidt "then lowered himself over the chain saw, taking his own life."

Ruiz said Smidt's neck came into contact with the chain saw.

Several members of the SWAT team witnessed the death, but no one else was injured in the standoff. Ruiz wouldn't comment on whether the chain saw was running prior to Smidt entering the bathroom.

The captain did say this was the only time he could remember an incident such as this occurring. Counseling services will be available for the law enforcement agents involved in the death, he said.

A special prosecutor will be named in the case. Nebraska law requires a grand jury to be convened anytime a person dies while in police custody or while being detained by law enforcement.

The standoff and death are being investigated by the South Central Alliance of Law Enforcement Services, a group made up of investigators from the police departments in Hastings, Kearney and Grand Island and sheriff's departments from Adams, Buffalo and Hall counties, Ruiz said.

This is the second grand jury to be called in Hall County in the last two months concerning men who have died while being detained by local law enforcement.

A grand jury is schedule to meet on Dec. 29 concerning the Nov. 24 suicide of Shaun Moreland, 19, of Wood River. He was being detained by two Hall County sheriff's deputies when he died of a self-inflicted wound.

The federal warrant the police were attempting to serve on Smidt on Tuesday stemmed from an Oct. 29 standoff, Falldorf said.

On that date, Smidt used a shotgun to take his estranged wife, Lois Smidt, hostage in her home at 1007 W. 13th St. After releasing her, Smidt engaged law enforcement in a standoff for several hours. He was taken into custody after a State Patrol police dog bit him on the leg.

Lois Smidt filed for divorce in July. The couple married in July 1990, and the marriage was marred by domestic abuse. Lois Smidt had filed for a protection order in Hall County District Court on Aug. 11, detailing several incidents in which Paul Smidt was verbally and physically abusive toward her and their two young sons.

As a result of that standoff, Smidt was charged with seven felonies and two misdemeanors. A motion to dismiss the charges was filed in district court on Monday, but a judge hadn't signed the document as of Wednesday afternoon.

Falldorf said the local charges were being dismissed in favor of pursuing the federal case.

According to court documents, Smidt had been released from the Hall County Jail on Nov. 9 on a 10 percent of $100,000 bond, which was posted by his mother. As part of his release, he was ordered not to have any contact with his estranged wife and was supposed to reside with his mother.

[Gren the cake]

and this is the kinda shit i get to look forward to? ALRIGHT

nah seriously, shit like this is few and far between. but still, i dont want to see that.. fuck

[horror_master]

Thing like that happen in thw world, becuase people are way to paranoide about everything in the world.

[Gren the cake]

oh yeh but theyre isolated incidences.... thats why u dont read about them too often.. like if u were to check the dates and places and stuff