The Observation Deck

This morning at 8:00 am a call came into Lakewood Police that a man had stab someone
and was help up in a "group home" on Mars Ave. about 6 house up from Detroit on the
West side of the street.


This is the house on the west side of Mars Ave. where SWAT thought the suspect in the
stabbing was holding up. Police had other run ins with "John" and it was believed there
was a large cache of weapons in what the neighbors described as a halfway house for men.


SWAT member after coming out of the house. You can see these guys take their work very
seriously and are good at what the do.


Earlier in the day SWAT teams assembling and coming up with their plan.

By the end of the day at 3:00pm the suspect was still at large and believed to be dangerous.

.

Here's the super cool of professionalism of the Lakewood Police which has been developed over many years.

I was listening to the scanner at 12:45 and heard all the chatter that indicated a SWAT situation. I received enough information to determine that the locus for the incident was around CVS and the Library.

I drove over to the Marc's Plaza to park, figuring that all of downtown would be shut down.

A band was entertaining farmer's market patrons at the City Center Park. Lots of folks were strolling around enjoying the good weather, doing some shopping.

Well--------------no riot here.

I drove over to Mars and headed down from Hilliard. Saw a police car blocking the street. Bingo---this must be where the action is!

I got out along with a Fox 8 cameraman. With discussion with some Mars residents, and my recollection of some early morning scanner action, I figured this was a continuation, maybe an ending to an early morning incident.

Some of the SWAT personnel took positions after a careful deployment of officers.

Apparently, the individual in question wasn't available. The police dismantled quickly. All over.

As officers headed back to their cruisers, overheard from residents---"Thank You". Simple, clear recognition of professionals doing their job (potentially life threatening should I point out?) with enough skill that allowed a rock band to play a few blocks away while folks bought corn and home made jam unaware of events unfolding just a few blocks away.

Stan Austin--- On the scene Lakewood Observer Reporter

Intrepid reporter that is.