Six-hour standoff at Illinois Credit Union ends up without any gunshot and the suspect surrenders to police

An over six-hour standoff at an Illinois credit union branch on Friday ended up with no injuries and the suspect taken into custody.

Friday afternoon, the armed suspect entered the Heritage Credit Union in Rockford, Illinois and demanded everybody to leave at around 2:45 p.m. The woman, one of the employees, couldn’t leave the building and the suspect held her as a hostage. He then barricaded inside while the authorities held the perimeter. The negotiations began.

“We’re trying to make communications with him with our crisis negotiation team,” police Chief Dan O’Shea told reporters. “No one is hurt at this point that we’re aware of… Hopefully, we can resolve this peacefully and soon.”

“It is unfortunate when situations like this occur," Special Agent Emmerson Buie Jr. said, according to the Chicago Tribune. "However, it is great that the situation was resolved without anyone being seriously injured.”

The police department negotiator alongside with the FBI contacted with the suspect over the phone. The negotiations lasted several hours, O’Shea said.

When the incident was winding out the police officers entered the Vitamin Shoppe, which is located directly across the street and about 200 feet away. The officers told the Shoppe’s manager, Bryan, not to leave the store — a “situation going on at the bank," they told him, “stay away from the windows.”

Bryan told that he saw how around 4:45 p.m. two black armored trucks moved from the front of the building to its back. The police were continuing to swamp the area.

“They just repositioned the armored trucks,’’ Bryan said. “They were much further back towards the old Taco Bell. Now just getting closer … more towards the back of the building."

The building was soon completely surrounded by the police vehicles with emergency lights activated and the two black SWAT SUVs. But there were no any gunshots heard and nobody entered or left the bank.

At 9:00 p.m. the hostage taker, who was later identified as a 39-year-old Rockford man, eventually came out of the building willingly, and was taken into custody. It’s still not clear what charges he is going to face. His name is also not released yet.

“The FBI negotiators worked seamlessly with the Rockford negotiators, and I could not give them enough credit," O’Shea added. "The FBI really stepped up to help us out.” 

The hostage woman was initially taken to a hospital and checked for injuries before speaking with detectives.

“This is certainly an unfortunate incident and one that happens too often across the country. I’m confident our police department and their law enforcement partners are working diligently to resolve this peacefully,” Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara commented on the situation.