Dude, small towns like ours aren't supposed to have stuff like this!
Police believe man has assault rifle
Police say there will be no formal news conference. They will inform the media on progress as it happens. They said they weren't sure about whether the apartment building had been evacuated.
9:32 a.m. update Bloomington Police Department Capt. Joe Qualters told H-T reporter Marci Creps that police believe the suspect is using an assault rifle. Because an assault rifle can hit a target from great distances, police are keeping people away from the scene as an extra precaution. Gale Hill, principal at Tri-North Middle School, said the school was locked down at 8:30 a.m. and not unlocked until around 8:50 a.m. We didnt feel we were in jeopardy, but we are required to run through a manmade disaster drill every semester, so we thought this was a good opportunity to that, Hill said. We had a code yellow, which means the doors were locked but the teachers were continuing to teach in their classrooms.
9:08 a.m. update Bloomington Police Department Capt. Joe Qualters says police are trying to get communication with the man still in the apartment building; police are sending a telephone up to the apartment. The apartment building is at the 1300 block of West Arch Haven on Bloomington's west side; the initial call came in after 7 a.m.
9:01 a.m. update A man fired shots from an apartment building balcony this morning, according to police. Sgt. Faron Lake told H-T reporter Marci Creps that a man fired shots from the balcony of an apartment building behind the BW3 restaurant on Second Street this morning. Lake said the man shot a rifle numerous times, but did not hit anyone that police are aware of, then went back inside. Police believe the man is back inside the apartment at this time, and has not come back out. Bloomington police's Critical Incident Response Team is on the scene, staging next to Stonebelt on Adams Street. Dave Burnworth, senior director of clinical operations at IMA, said Internal Medicine Associates Landmark Family Practice and Landmark Medical Center were both locked down at 7:45 a.m. No patients or doctors can leave the building until we get the OK from the police, he said. Everyone seems to be fine. They know they are secure if they stay inside the building.
8:43 a.m. update Bloomington Police are at the scene of the incident near Second Street at this hour. Preliminary reports from police indicate a man with a rifle came out of an apartment building on Adams Street, between Patterson and Second Streets, and fired shots. Police did not say who the man is, or why shots were fired. The area is sealed off, including Second near Landmark and Patterson and Adams Street.
