A man who walked away from a halfway house was taken into custody about 5:25 a.m. today in Longmont after a 10-hour standoff with SWAT teams.
Shawn Russell, 28, walked away from his Department of Corrections placement on Oct. 3, according to Longmont Police Commander Tim Lewis.
He said police learned last week that Russell, a former Longmont resident, was staying at an address in the 700 block of Tundra Court.
About 7 p.m. Thursday night, the Longmont SWAT team surrounded the home. The residents left and told police Russell was inside.
The neighborhood of single-family homes was evacuated.
Officers got a search warrant and began communicating with Russell via bullhorn and by cellphone, said Lewis.
When Russell refused to surrender and hid in a basement crawl space, police sent tear gas into the home.
At that point, Russell – who was reportedly armed – came to the front door and through the screen door engaged in face-to-face negotiations with Lewis.
The two knew each other because Lewis was in charge of the burglary investigation that sent Russell to prison.
Russell still refused to surrender and barricaded himself in an upstairs bedroom. At that point the Boulder Sheriff’s SWAT team, which had relieved the Longmont SWAT team, went in and fired more tear gas into the bedroom.
Russell went to the attic and buried himself in insulation.
At 3 a.m., the Boulder Police SWAT team relieved the sheriff’s SWAT team and fired tear gas into the attic. Russell was taken into custody 2-1/2 hours later and taken to Longmont United Hospital where he was treated for exposure to teargas and insulation.
Lewis said that Russell’s handgun was found in the house.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
