“Please come to the front door with your hands above your head,” the officer added, moments later.

A robot was sent inside Santiam Liquor to survey the scene, and at about 12:25 p.m., at least four members of Linn Regional SWAT, including an officer with a riot shield, went into the business and located the suspect inside.

Liles said that the gap of about a half-hour between the shots fired and police entering the building was due to safety precautions. Authorities didn’t want to rush in and put themselves or others in danger.

“We’re going to make sure no one else is in there. … Even though the hostages came out and said the suspect had shot himself, that’s good information, but that doesn’t mean that he’s deceased or he still couldn’t be a threat,” Liles said.

Liles couldn’t recall a similar hostage situation in Albany.

About 20 public safety automobiles, including two armored vehicles, were in the vicinity of Pacific Highway during the incident.

Dozens of residents watched the police activity along Fourth Avenue S.E., Waverly Drive and other nearby streets, with some taking photographs with their cellular phones.

Those with information about the case should contact Detective Dan Jones at 541-917-7686.

Kyle Odegard can be reached at kyle.odegard@lee.net, 541-812-6077 or via Twitter @KyleOdegard.

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