Soldier killed in standoff - Salina Journal
9/2/2011
By the Salina Journal
ABILENE -- After a seven-hour standoff with a soldier from Fort Riley, officers with the Kansas Highway Patrol Special Response Team shot and killed U.S. Army Sgt. Kirk Evenson on Thursday night in a hotel room on the top floor of the Holiday Inn Express in north Abilene.
Craig Beam, chief deputy of the U.S. Marshal Service in the District of Kansas, said an Army criminal investigation division requested the marshal service Fugitive Task Force unit. The unit encountered Evenson shortly after noon Thursday at the hotel.
"After lengthy attempts to contact (Evenson), he would not respond to law enforcement," Beam said.
The marshal service called in the Kansas Highway Patrol's special response team.
"Entry was made into the room. They basically met resistance," Beam said, and the KHP responded with "deadly force."
Contact was attempted in several ways.
"They guy was given several opportunities to comply," Beam said.
The Journal's news partner, KWCH, reported earlier that Evenson was assigned to the 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley.
Evenson, 41, was absent without leave (AWOL) on Tuesday when he failed to show up for the second day of his court-martial. Evenson was on trial for rape of a child, KWCH reported. Evenson was tried in absentia, and on Wednesday, he was convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
Beam said that Evenson was located "through investigative efforts" at the hotel.
"It was confirmed he was in the room. He locked hnimself in the room and wouldn't respond to law enforcement's attempts to contact him," Beam said. "He was alone."
He would not say how the tactical team entered the room.
The hotel had been evacuated, Beam said, although there were "one or two tenants at the time."
He said the Kansas Bureau of Investigation is looking into the shooting, which is standard.
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02 Sep, 2011
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