Sheridan Police Officer Shot And Killed, Suspect In Standoff With Law Enforcement

UPDATE: 10:23 a.m. Wednesday: ‘Come Out The Front Door!’ Standoff With Suspected Sheridan Cop Killer Hits 24-Hours

Suspected Sheridan Cop Killer Remains Barricaded In House As Standoff Nears 24 Hours

The Sheridan Police Department reports “with great sadness” that one of its own, Sgt. Nevada Krinkee, was shot and killed Tuesday in the line of duty.

Krinkee, a six-year veteran of the department, was killed “while attempting to serve a trespass warning on a male subject near the intersection of 5th Street and Val Vista Street,” according to the SPD press release.

Krinkee was taken to Sheridan Memorial Hospital, where he died of his injuries, the press release says.

The suspect, who was identified in earlier BOLO warnings as William Lowery, 46, but was not identified in the SPD press release, fled the scene, which prompted a standoff that was still active as of 3:25 p.m., according to the press release.

The suspect was located in the area of 6th Street and North Sheridan Avenue, where the SPD, Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office and Wyoming Highway Patrol “established a perimeter and determined the subject was barricaded inside a residence,” the press release says.

Other residents in the area were evacuated and at least one school put on lockdown.

With members of the Gillette Police Department’s tactical response team and crisis negotiators also responding, “the scene is still active at this time,” the press release says.

“The entire department is shocked and saddened by this senseless act and appreciate all the thoughts and prayers from our community,” Sheridan Police Chief Travis Koltiska says in the release. “Please respect the privacy of our brother Nevada’s family through this trying time.”

Gov Mark Gordon & Sheridan County Legislators React To Shooting

The Call

A be-on-the-lookout (BOLO) warning came at about midday Tuesday, asking people to watch for Lowery.

The city then reported an active investigation off North Sheridan Avenue and urged the public to avoid the area and all police boundaries there.

School Locked Down

Sheridan Junior High School sits about 10 blocks away from where the shooting happened. People who happened to be outside during the incident could hear the gunshots, but those inside could not, Principal Timm Cooper told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday.

School personnel who heard about the shooting were able to divert students to an indoor, rather than outdoor, recess just after the shots sounded, Cooper said.

They also shut down passage between the school’s two buildings and went into lockdown mode.

“All safe here,” Cooper told Cowboy State Daily at 2 p.m. “We’re in a spot where local authorities have let us know that they’ve got the threat contained… We’re off lockdown now and just trying to finish our school day.”

Cooper added that the suspect was “MIA” – or missing in action – “for a minute there.”

He said he could not confirm additional details of officers’ progress on this incident.

Some parents picked up their kids early, Cooper said.

Officers, Marines

Cooper said the school has one school resource officer, and has two former school-resource officers and one former U.S. Marine working in the building who form the emergency management team and who immediately addressed the hazard with safety protocols.

“Ours are the best here, honestly,” he said. “We’re extremely lucky to have who we have here.”

Active Investigation

The Sheridan Police Department also reports that the standoff continues and the investigation is being turned over to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, and that additional information on the event will emerge via that agency.

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.