Hostages Freed Unharmed in Harvey Police Standoff
As of Wednesday morning, all eight people held hostage following a home invasion on the 147th block of Seeley Boulevard in Harvey, Ill., were released unharmed after an estimated two dozen SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics, a group of highly trained police officers who deal with very dangerous criminals) and Harvey police stormed the home to free four remaining hostages and captured two suspects, ending a 20-hour standoff.
Four children were freed overnight after hours of talks.
Sharon Hampton lives nearby and said she saw part of the incident unfold.
“I saw the SWAT truck ram the windows. It was early this morning. I was able to stand on a chair and look over my fence and saw the SWAT truck bash in one window and bash in another window and then it was silence and then maybe about 15 minutes or so they knocked the door in also,” Hampton recalled.
Hampton said loud sirens were also used to force the suspects out of the home.
“They used sirens most of the night and put a telephone on the stairs of the home and asked the hostage-takers to pick up the phone to negotiate but nothing happened and they didn’t come out and pick the telephone up,” Hampton recalled. “Two ladies who were still being held hostage were finally brought out and one was still in her house slippers and looked very distressed and two little girls came out but I couldn’t tell if the kids were crying.”
After the woman and children were brought out to cheers from residents and spectators, Hampton said the SWAT team members and the police officers had the house surrounded and that one swat member went back into the home for a while and appeared to be searching the home which was pitch dark.
“They brought out a man who appeared to be 60 years old or more and a much younger man with a dreadlock hair style. Both men kept their head down when police walked them out of the house, ” Hampton said.
According to the Associated Press, Harvey Police, robbery was the motive behind the home invasion.
Woodrow Davis, who lives in the area, said he was told the men were after a large sum of money they knew was in the home.
“What happened was they (the two men who broke into the home) used lawn mowers. You know how a person rings the bell and asks if you want your grass cut and when somebody opened the door they kicked it in and went in. I heard they were told it was $50,000 in the house and that’s the reason why they went to the home. They were coming to rob the house. Things went bad for them and they ended up having to shoot a couple of police officers and after that they locked themselves in the house.”
Harvey police officers Darnell Keel, an 18-year veteran of the police force, reportedly underwent surgery for a broken arm and a second officer suffered a graze wound to an arm, during the ordeal; according to the Associated Press.
The standoff began at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday when Harvey police responded to a neighbor's report of a possible burglary at the home.
Harvey spokesman Sean Howard said the first officer who was shot at the scene was responding to a 911 call of a burglary in process when an exchange of gunfire erupted.
Sherriff Tom Dart who was on the scene said (hostage) negotiators were in "constant contact" with the hostage-takers throughout the night but that the talks reached a stalemate late morning and a decision was made to storm the house. Negotiators still had the suspects on the phone as the officers used a battering ram on an armored truck to break down the door and sweep in, according to the Associate Press.
"We'd been giving them opportunities for the last almost 24 hours to come out," Dart was quoted saying, adding that hostage specialists concluded it was the right time to act.
Police reportedly knew the hostages were on the second floor and quickly marched up the stairs after securing the ground floor.
Four of the captive children, (some of whom were just one year old), are from one family and the other two are relatives. One of the adult women held captive is a nurse who was at the home to care for a 2-year-old girl who has a health issue, according to Dart.
Hampton said she saw a woman (on Tuesday) walking towards the home dressed in a nurse uniform and heard her yell out that someone broke into the house.
Officers including a SWAT team surrounded the home and the entire block of homes was evacuated, affecting about 100 residents.
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