KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — A Kalamazoo neighborhood was shut down Saturday as police tried to get a gun-toting thief to surrender after he broke into an occupied home.
The whole situation lasted about five hours and ended around 7 p.m. Saturday. While the suspect gave up peacefully, it was a tense stand-off with a suspect that had already discarded one handgun.
It started around 2 p.m. at the D&W store on Oakland Drive where police say employees called authorities about a man shoplifting.
When Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officers arrived, the alleged shoplifter was still in the store and made a run for it. But not before he tossed a handgun in the store.
The suspect fled to nearby Logan Avenue and into the back door of a house that was occupied.
After the residents saw the suspect, they got out and police began to call on the suspect – who they identified – to come out of the house.
“There were cop cars out in front of my house and there are cops with shotguns and rifles on my back deck, so OK, I’m stuck at home," said next door neighbor David Kohrman.
The SWAT team was called and assistance came from Portage and Western Michigan University departments.
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