Hours after saying the standoff in Sheridan with the man accused of killing a police officer Tuesday morning had ended, a released from the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation said the suspect had not been taken into custody but had been killed
46-year old William Lowery of Sheridan, accused of fatally shooting Sheridan Police Sgt Nevada Krinkee, had holed up in a 2-story house near downtown Sheridan for over 30 hours and was fatally shot when he tried to flee a little after 5:30 pm.
Sheridan Police Chief Travis Koltiska, a graduate of Chadron State College, says Lowery shot Sgt Krinkee about 10:00 am Tues as Krinkee tried to serve a trespass notice at a rented house near downtown Sheridan, where Lowery had been squatting.
Lowery fled about 2 blocks to a second house and barricaded himself inside. Police quickly surrounded the house, cordoned off the area, and evacuated nearby residents before settling in for what turned out to be a long, cold standoff.
      Although it would be more than a day before the standoff ended, Chief Koltiska said through social media about 2:15 Tuesday that the situation was contained and there was no longer any threat to the general public.
The Cowboy State Daily reported SWAT teams and other law enforcement made unsuccessful attempts in the afternoon and evening to breach the house using flash-bang and gas grenades. A tactical robot was sent in and Lowery agreed to surrender, but apparently changed his mind.
The news service said police scanner traffic indicated Lowery was seen wandering around the house overnight Tues with a rifle in one hand and a shotgun in the other. Officers blasted water from a high-pressure fire hose at the front door around 9:00 am and Lowery reportedly fired shots both Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.
A tracked construction excavator from a local contractor that had been brought to the scene Wednesday morning was moved into the alley behind the house shortly before 5 pm and began ripping off the roof.
Lowery reportedly fired one shot at the excavator, then leaped down to the alley and fled on foot, but was shot by an officer. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Sgt Krinkee, a 6-½ year veteran of the Sheridan police force, is the city’s first officer to be killed in the line of duty, but 2 Sheridan County Sheriff’s deputies were fatally shot 7 years apart more than a century ago.
The last Wyoming law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty was a guard at the State Penitentiary who was stabbed in an escape attempt in 1997