A man has been charged with three counts of felony aggravated assault after being involved in a standoff with Casper police.
Kevin Deschneau was arrested Thursday evening after an hours-long standoff with police.
“In dealing with an armed and potentially dangerous individual refusing to come out of a residence, these officers exercised patience, professionalism and expertise,” the Casper Police Department said on its social media on Friday. “That is evident by the outcome, the suspect exiting peacefully and the community and the officers being able to go home safely.”
On Thursday afternoon, Casper police officers responded to the report of a disturbance. The reporting party informed them a man had threatened them with a gun.
The reporting party and several other people were gathered on the side of the street, talking, when the suspect approached the group and allegedly pointed a rifle at them and threatened to shoot because he wanted them to leave.
Upon officers’ arrival to the scene, they found a male matching the description given by the reporting party. The man ignored officers’ commanders and entered a residence.
The man refused to leave the home, and due to his potentially dangerous nature, officers setup up a perimeter around the house and continue to issue commands to the man to leave the house unarmed.
For nearly two hours, officers continued to issue commands to the man in the house, asking him to leave. Officers believed the man was alone, but also armed.
Ultimately, Casper police and crisis intervention officials were able to speak with the man over the phone, which led to his eventual peaceful and voluntary exit from the house.
Officers found a loaded rifle matching the one from the report inside of the home.
The Casper Police Department was assisted by the Natrona County Sheriff’s Office and Special Response Team, the Casper-Natrona County Public Safety Communication Center and the Wyoming Highway Patrol.
“#OurCommunity can be proud of how these officers responded to this situation,” CPD said.
