SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement are investigating a suspect on multiple allegations after a 7-hour standoff at a Kansas home.
Just before 1:30p.m. Wednesday, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office Warrant Team which consisted of five deputies and one sergeant responded to a residence in the 8100 block of South Bernice in Haysville attempting to serve an arrest warrant for a 43-year-old Robert Cook and began conducting surveillance on the home, according to statement from Wichita Police Captain Aaron Moses.
Deputies conducted interviews and received information confirming that Cook was inside the home. At 2:55pm deputies requested the assistance of a K9 from the Haysville police department to assist with clearing the residence.
After the K9 cleared the residence, a team of Deputies entered the residence and believed Cook was locked in a bedroom. A K9 from the Wichita Police Department responded and remained outside the residence for the duration of the incident.
A sergeant and two deputies exited the residence and prepared to deploy chemical munitions into the bedroom to end the barricade. At 3:48pm, a deputy broke out a bedroom window and Cook fired a gun at the deputies multiple times.
Two deputies returned fire. One deputy fired three rounds from a rifle and another fired five rounds from a handgun. Neither Cook nor the involved deputies were injured in the exchange of gunfire.
The combined Wichita Police and Sedgwick County SWAT team and Wichita Police negotiators were activated at 4:03pm.
At 4:41pm, police negotiators contacted Cook by phone. Throughout the ensuing seven-hour negotiation Cook made multiple statements that this was his “last stand” and that he would shoot at officers if they made entry into the home.
At 9:01pm, after negotiations deteriorated and continued threats by Cook, chemical munitions were deployed into the residence and SWAT operators heard gunshots inside.
Following the deployment of chemical munitions, Cook resumed communication with negotiators, who remained focused on achieving a peaceful resolution. While operators were preparing to introduce a second round of chemical munitions, peacefully surrendered at 11:33pm.
Cook has been booked into the Sedgwick County Jail on requested chargers that include three counts of Aggravated Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer.
This investigation is ongoing as detectives are currently serving a search warrant at the incident location to gather additional information. Cook’s charges may be updated as more information is gathered.
The Wichita Police Department does not typically release the names of arrested individuals until formal charges are filed. In this case, the suspect was arrested on an approved arrest warrant stemming from a charged case in Sedgwick County District Court. The warrant was for Failure to Appear and Contempt of Court stemming from an incident where Cook threatened to shoot bail bondsmen when they made an arrest attempt.
The facts of the incident that occurred Wednesday will be presented to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office for formal charging consideration by investigators from the Wichita Police Department ALERT team members.