Wausau standoff ended when police found man dead in apparent suicide

WAUSAU - A 35-year-old man apparently shot himself to death after police chased him into his home on Wausau's northeast side because they were concerned he was suicidal.

Officers didn't discover the man dead until about six hours later when they entered the home with a search warrant, Wausau Police Chief Ben Bliven said in an evening press conference at the city Public Safety Building.

Police had been searching for the man for 24 hours — based on a report that he threatened to harm himself — when officers spotted him driving away from the home in the 700 block of Augusta Avenue at 12:05 p.m. Wednesday, Bliven said. Officers tried to pull him over, but he drove back to his house and ran inside. Moments later, police heard a gunshot from inside the house.

"The ending of this incident is obviously not what we hoped for," Bliven said.

"It's heartbreaking for the family, and our thoughts and prayers are with them."

Police did not release the man's name but said they had been in contact with family members.

The house is north of East Wausau Avenue, along a street behind Lamb's Fresh Market grocery store.

The chief said police surrounded the home and blocked streets for hours before they went inside — even though they heard the gunshot immediately and there were no further sounds from the home — because they wanted to make sure the danger had passed.

Bliven said the man had previously threatened not only himself but "also made statements that he would kill police officers."

They later determined that no one else was in danger during the incident and that no one else was injured, Bliven said.

Because the Marathon County SWAT team was initially away at a training exercise, SWAT units from Wood County and Marshfield assisted.

An armored vehicle with a battering ram affixed to the front approached the home from a back alley shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday, while armed officers shielded themselves behind it and followed on foot.

Meanwhile, other officers operated a remote-controlled robot that approached the house from the front. Police used an amplified speaker at one point to try to communicate with the man. Bliven said they never received a response.

About 6:15 p.m., one of the officers told a USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin reporter that there was no threat to public safety and that the incident was expected to end soon. Moments later, law enforcement vehicles began to leave the area.

Throughout the day, police were telling people to stay away from the area around Augusta Avenue between Seventh and Eighth streets. They blocked off Turner Street and Augusta Avenue and took cover behind their squad vehicles.

One bystander, Mitch Siewert, said he had dropped off his toddler daughter Wednesday morning at his mother-in-law's home across the street from the scene. He was anxious to get his child back, but the street blockade kept him away.

Siewert said he had met a man who lives in the house and thought he was a nice person, but knew little else about him.

Rich Dyer, who lives nearby on Brown Street, said police activity in the neighborhood is common but something was different starting Tuesday night. Dyer said he saw multiple K-9 units in the area for a period of time, but they left later in the evening.

A Wausau Police Department log entry said officers were called to the 700 block of Augusta Avenue at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to investigate "threats of self-harm." No other details were provided in that report.

RELATED: Bomb squad responds to downtown Wausau, evacuates

While police and SWAT units were responding to Augusta Avenue, other local law enforcement officers were called to the 400 Block park in downtown Wausau for an unrelated bomb scare. Police shut down a block of Third Street, evacuated the city square and called in a bomb squad.

But within 45 minutes, they determined that a box found inside a planter, which had raised concern, was harmless.

The Marathon County Sheriff's Department is investigating the incident on Augusta Avenue, Bliven said, because state law requires that police agencies not review their own officer-involved shooting deaths. Because Wausau police were trying to approach the man at the time of his death, this case fits that description, the chief said.