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Published online 8/24/2007 1:18 AM

Standoff, stand down

Five-hour event ends with no suspect

By Darcy Gray - The Hutchinson News - dgray@hutchnews.com

A five-hour standoff Thursday that included snipers, tear gas and K-9 units ended when police stormed a Hutchinson apartment and found no one inside.

Police set up a security perimeter around The Clusters apartment complex, 23rd Avenue and Lorraine, around 2 p.m. Thursday. Officers believed Brian Green, 21, of Hutchinson, had barricaded himself inside an apartment.

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Authorities are still looking for Green, who is wanted for violating his parole. Hutchinson Police Capt. Troy Hoover warned that Green is known to carry weapons and is "considered dangerous."

"It's frustrating because we put the time and effort into it," Hoover said. "We had been looking for him for several weeks now."

According to Hoover, the trouble began Thursday when state parole officer Ed Mora went to The Clusters in search of Joshua Whitehurst, who is also wanted for absconding parole. Mora instead "heard about Brian Green" being at an apartment there, he said.

Hoover said three people reported Green was at the apartment. Officers contacted Megan Taylor Webb - the tenant and a relative of Green's, who confirmed that he was at the apartment.

Webb and her two small children were not in the apartment at the time.

The first officer on the scene at about 1:30 p.m. discovered the apartment door was "barricaded with a chain," but Hoover could not confirm whether the chain was a simple lock or something more complex.

Although officers never saw Green, Hoover said the barricaded door, three reports of Green in the apartment, and the wanted man's dangerous history warranted police action.

Some Harvey County officers who were in town training with the local Emergency Response Team also responded to the scene, along with Reno County Sheriff's officers, Hoover said.

About 10 to 12 officers suited up in protective gear, including camouflaged clothing, bulletproof vests and helmets. Snipers positioned on the west side of Lorraine later moved back into the field on the southwest corner of the intersection.

About seven officers banded together behind a 4-by-4 bulletproof shield, while others crouched behind police cruisers parked on 23rd Avenue, directly north of the apartment.

Neighbors and residents unable to get back to their apartments watched from a distance.

Nen Goertz, who lives in the 1300 block of 23rd Avenue, watched from her front porch.

"It's crazy," she said. "It's like looking out my bedroom and seeing a Hollywood movie scene."

Hoover said police attempted to contact Green by calling his cell phone, the apartment phone and "deploying a throw phone" inside the apartment for direct communication. Officers also attempted to communicate with Green over a loudspeaker.

Communication efforts failed and by 4 p.m. officers threw beanbags to break the windows, followed by tear gas canisters.

Hoover said launching the tear gas sounded like gunfire, but assured that no guns were fired in the incident.

Officers, along with K-9 units, finally stormed the building around 5 p.m., after several rounds of tear gas failed to produce Green.

They performed two searches of the apartment and searched the entire area before the standoff was called down. Officers began leaving the scene around 6 p.m.

Justice Glen, who sometimes stays at the apartment with Webb and their 4-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl, said a friend called him about the standoff as he was on his way home from work. Immediately, he feared for the safety of his children.

Sitting on the northwest corner of the intersection, unable to get to the apartment, Glen called the manager of The Clusters apartments.

"Are Megan and them out of the house? Where is Megan?" he asked.

After hanging up his cell phone, he said, "They're OK, they weren't in there."

Glen said he was surprised Green would be involved in a standoff.

"He's a young kid ... and he's a good kid," Glen said. "I actually can't believe he's in there like that ... I thought he'd say, 'OK, you got me.'

"I'm just glad the kids weren't in there."

Capt. Hoover did not know if Green would face additional charges as a result of the standoff, but added that police continue to look for the suspect.

"Eventually, we'll meet up with him again," he said of Green.

Suspects sought

uthorities are looking for two men who reportedly violated their parole, Brian Green and Joshua Whitehurst. Green reportedly barricaded himself inside a Hutchinson apartment Thursday, according to police.

Green, 21, is a 5’8’’ white male, weighs 180 pounds and has brown hair and blue eyes.

Whitehurst, 30, is a 5’7’’ white male, weighs 172 pounds and has brown hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information about the two men’s whereabouts can call Hutchinson Police at (620) 694-2834.