UPDATE: Suspected Sheridan Cop Killer Caught! 30+ Hour Standoff Finally Ends.
SHERIDAN — People who live around the spot where Sheridan Police Sgt. Nevada Krinkee lost his life in the front yard of 58 Fifth Street – where frosted lilacs now lie on the snowy grass — reacted with sorrow and anger over his brazen murder in a community dotted with whispering pines and historic brick buildings.
“I feel somber. The community is shaken, as it should be,” said Heather Ruf, a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier who has the grey-colored Fifth Street corner lot on her route. “I’m dreading this today, as sad as it is.”
Ruf said she cried over the tragedy.
“The town is hurt. It’s going through a grieving process,” she said.
Others are reacting similarly.
“I was surprised,” said Rebecca Reimers, owner of Bino’s Corner Market across the street from where her parents ran the go-to Bino’s Grocery for 57 years.
He son, Nick, called her at 11:01 a.m. Tuesday to let her know to lock the doors to the business.
“Fifteen or 20 minutes later, I unlocked them,” said the soft-spoken Reimers, who couldn’t afford to lose the lunchtime crowd.
Pop, Pop, Pop
Around the Corner on Val Vista Street, Alesha Brannigan was cutting out of work early as a receptionist at Zowada Plumbing & Heating to grab a bite to eat.
She exited the alley at 10:59 a.m., which is when she heard the first gunshot.
She turned the corner toward the front street of her building where she saw her neighbor loading beer cans into a wooden framed trailer to bring somewhere for recycling. The donations go to veterans.
That’s when she heard three successive tiny explosions – pop, pop, pop — finally realizing that these were gunshots coming from a block-and-a-half-away to the east.
A few seconds later she heard a fifth one.
“I then walked toward the cops,” she said.
As Brannigan approached the now-sacred ground where Krinkee had gone down near the front of the house at 58 5th St., Brannigan, who was lured to live in Sheridan eight years ago by her sister and who eventually got married, saw a second officer administering CPR to the fallen officer.
“We immediately took control and began directing traffic,” she said.
“Cars were driving by very fast, and my boss began to block the traffic off,” she added. “One officer who arrived at the scene asked us to continue directing traffic.”
Brannigan was so rattled by the whole experience that she went out later that day and bought a security camera and alarm system for her home next door.
“I grew up in Star Valley, Wyoming, about 40 miles south of Jackson, and I settled down here,” she said. “This is so heartbreaking.”
Brannigan casually knew of the suspect, William Lowery, 46, who allegedly shot Krinkee to death Tuesday morning while Krinkee was trying to serve a trespass notice not far from a standoff with Lowery that was continuing as of 4 p.m. Wednesday.
More Than ‘Senseless’
SPD called the tragedy “senseless.”
Brannigan said it’s much more than that, it’s tragic and heartbreaking.
Although she lived next door to where Lowery was squatting in the rented home, they weren’t friends. She said she recognized the middle-aged man and his three kids – one an infant, another in elementary school and the other junior high age.
“I’ve seen Will (Lowery) raise his kids as a neighbor,” she said. “I never talked to him. From my point of view, he was a good dad who took his kid to the bus stop every morning.”
Brannigan also said that Lowery worked alongside her husband collecting scrap metal and pulling it from homes.
“The last time I saw him, one of his kids was riding a bicycle and he was smoking a cigarette,” she said.
After lunch Tuesday, several police vehicles from local jurisdictions had pulled up to the home where Krinkee had died – believed to be where Lowery was living.
They got out of their cars and were seen walking the property. The front yard, with the flowers, had garbage and other heaps of stuff piled up near the front steps, which was cleaned up later in the day.
“Honestly, I didn’t ever think this would happen here.”
Sounded Like A Car Backfiring
Lisa Mueller, a Real Estate agent with MC2 Collaborative less than a block from 58 Fifth St., had just stepped out of her car in an alley when the shooting erupted.
She heard the first bang, then the four that followed.
“I thought I had heard a car backfire,” she said.
She yelled to an employee standing in the front of their office as she turned onto 5th to jump into their office quickly.
She also witnessed a second Sheridan police cruiser screech to a halt in front of Lowery’s home, then pursue the suspect east — kind of toward Zowada’s.
She didn’t know where they ran after that, but for more than a day the suspect has been in a standoff with law enforcement nearby.
“The whole community is in shock,” she said. “The town is so small that everyone knows everyone. I’m very devastated. It’s hard to come to terms with this in our community where we all feel safe.”
Pat Maio can be reached at pat@cowboystatedaily.com.
