‘Makes you panic a little bit’: WSU students react to overnight SWAT standoff near campus
PULLMAN, Wash. — A man is dead in Pullman after police say a SWAT officer shot him for threatening to kill his roommates and firing a gun from his apartment.
Pullman Police say his roommates got out safely before he started firing shots.
“After unsuccessful negotiations, his escalating behavior and a continued danger to the public and others, the male was shot by a member of the Whitman County Regional SWAT Team,” said Pullman Police Chief Jake Opgenorth.
RELATED: Man dead after SWAT standoff near WSU campus
The standoff started just after 8:30 Wednesday night when police got the call.
This happened at an apartment complex near the south side of the Washington State University campus.
Students and people living or working nearby were alerted to shelter-in-place.
Students at WSU say they received the alert sometime between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m.
“The whole town of Pullman is basically campus so we didn’t know where it was or what was happening so it was definitely really scary and makes you panic a little bit,” said WSU sophomore Jessalyn Swanson.
Jessalyn lives in an off-campus apartment herself and says she couldn’t help but think of the still-unsolved Moscow murders that happened near the University of Idaho campus.
“It’s been pretty scary to even be that close to something like that and not know any information,” said Swanson.
One student 4 News Now spoke with off-camera says his mom was worried and texted him about what was going on.
For WSU senior Diego Trujillo, he finds the two violent incidents frustrating.
“It’s really a small space between here and Moscow and I think it’s ridiculous that we’re having so much violence,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going on but it’s a lot.”
Washington State Patrol is taking over the investigation and say the investigation could take days to complete.
WSP also says this early in the investigation, there is no indication the incident is related to the Moscow murders that occurred more than a month ago.
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