A standoff in Racine came to a harrowing conclusion yesterday as a woman suffered multiple gunshot wounds and the male suspect later inflicted a gunshot on himself, authorities said. Racine Police Department responded to a shooting near the intersection of Prospect Street and Reschke Avenue, where a 48-year-old woman was critically injured. According to WISN 12 News, the incident began around 11 a.m. yesterday.
The woman, whose identity has not been released, was airlifted to a hospital, and her condition was not immediately clear as of last night, stated Racine Police Department Lt. Alicia Mitchell. The 51-year-old male suspect retreated back into a home following the shooting, initiating, what would become a nearly half-day standoff with law enforcement. During the incident, Racine residents were advised to avoid the area, as advised in a note on the department's Facebook page, stated by Racine County Eye.
Efforts to resolve the situation peacefully included several crisis negotiators from the police department who attempted to communicate with the suspect. "Police Crisis Negotiators established sporadic communications with the suspect throughout the incident, encouraging him to surrender," Lt. Mitchell detailed in an email acquired by WISN. However, these attempts eventually ceased, leading to a decisive action from the authorities.
At approximately 6:30 p.m., the department's SWAT team forcibly entered the home and discovered the suspect with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Both the suspect and the woman were transported for medical care by helicopter. The suspect's name has not been released, and like the woman, his condition remained unknown following the incident. According to the report by My News 13, the Racine Police are currently investigating the attempted homicide, while the Kenosha Police Department is taking charge of the investigation relative to the standoff, as per departmental procedure.
