Suspected Sheridan Cop Killer Shot, Killed While Trying To Escape

Editor’s note: Initial reports from the scene that the man suspected of killing a Sheridan, Wyoming, police officer had been caught while trying to escape the house and was in custody were incomplete. The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation has since updated the situation and reports the man was shot and killed while trying to flee the house.

The man suspected of killing a Sheridan Police sergeant Tuesday is dead after police shot him Wednesday when he tried to flee the house in which he barricaded himself for more than 30 hours, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation reports.

William Lowery, 46, reportedly shot Sheridan Police Sgt. Nevada Krinkee to death Tuesday when Krinkee tried to serve a trespass notice at the Sheridan rental home from which Lowery had been evicted by a judge’s order the day before.

Lowery then fled to different house on 7th and North Sheridan Avenue.

A Sheridan woman owns that house.

He barricaded himself there for more than 30 hours despite Natrona and Campbell County tactical teams and local police agents’ efforts to extricate him.

The teams converged on the house. They flooded it with gas projectiles and light, and waited around it all night Tuesday.

On Wednesday morning, they blasted firehose water into the front door.

Lowery reportedly shot toward officers Tuesday evening and again late Wednesday morning. He was seen wandering around the house with a rifle in one hand and a shotgun in the other overnight Tuesday, according to agents communicating on the Sheridan County police scanner.

This Excavator Though

A local construction worker brought a track hoe excavator to the scene Wednesday morning.

After a long day, police agents directed the excavator into the alley, to rip open the roof of the house.

Bystanders at times reported Lowery was in the attic. As of 5 p.m., he was barricaded in a bathroom.

A single gunshot sounded — reportedly Lowery shot at the excavator. He then fled the house and rushed into the alley, according to a Cowboy State Daily correspondent on scene.

The Bearcat armored vehicle, which had sat stationary most of the day with an agent training a shielded rifle at the house from the open top hatch, rocked into motion.

It pursued Lowery through the alley at an unexpected high speed. Agents called out to each other, barking coordinating commands; they fanned out and chased Lowery.

An ambulance pulled into the scene with its lights on.

Two dozen bystanders cheered, taking the ambulance’s arrival as a sign that the standoff was over.

He Was Dead

What many bystanders did not know then was that Lowery was shot, and died on scene. The fatality came after more than 24 hours of negotiations and other tactics to get the suspect to surrender peacefully, according to a Wednesday evening statement by DCI Director Ronnie Jones.

When he fled the barricade house, Lowery was still armed, says the statement.   

DCI will be conducting an investigation into the incident, at the request of the Sheridan Police Department.

It is standard practice for DCI to investigate officer-involved shootings.

Not Even His

One spectator, Tammy Webber, told Cowboy State Daily on scene that she felt badly for the woman whose home was destroyed, “because one guy went crazy in the head and commandeered somebody’s house that’s not even his and he doesn’t even know.”

She said police should have “put a bullet through his head” early in the standoff.

Somber Valentines

Meanwhile, the town displayed its grief for Krinkee by placing bouquets at the scene of Tuesday’s fatal shooting – and along the ground around a Sheridan police cruiser parked in front of the station.

Sheridan County Sheriff’s Deputy Brayden Dempsey and his wife, Addison, laid flowers beside the police car Wednesday afternoon. 

They both teared up. 

Dempsey last had last seen Krinkee two weeks earlier for firearms qualifications. 

“He’s a father and a husband. He’s a good guy who cared about his crew,” said Dempsey. “He wanted everybody to be safe and go home.”

His wife wiped the tears away from the corners of her eyes.

The friends lived similar lives. The Dempseys have an infant who is a month older than Krinkee’s child.      

Krinkee and his wife, SPD employee Karla Krinkee, were married July 3, 2021.

“I can’t even imagine what his family is going through,” Braydon Dempsey said.  

“I can’t imagine,” his wife added. 

Along with the roses and balloons surrounding the cruiser by Wednesday evening lay one note, quickly jotted.

“Rest easy brother. From a retired law enforcement/EMS family,” the note said.

The Long Tally

Lowery has a lengthy Wyoming criminal history dating back to 1993, including repeat convictions of domestic abuse, according to court documents.

He lived for several years in Gillette, and then in Sheridan.

First For Sheridan Police Department

The national Officer Down Memorial Page has logged 62 line-of-duty deaths for Wyoming law enforcement agents stretching back to 1877 — 13 years before Wyoming became a state.

Of those, 37 deaths were due to direct gunfire, two to inadvertent gunfire, three to stabbings, one from vehicular assault, and the rest from various crashes, accidents and medical events. Three of them were K-9 police dogs: two of those died by vehicle strikes and one by heat stroke.

Including the dogs, Wyoming has averaged roughly one line-of-duty death every two years and four months.  

Tuesday’s incident was the first line-of-duty death in the history of the Sheridan Police Department.

There have been two line-of-duty deaths for Sheridan County as a whole before Tuesday, both out of the Sheriff’s Department.

Those were Underhsheriff William H. Veach, who died from inadvertent gunfire June 13, 1914, and Undersheriff William S. McPherren, who was shot to death Oct. 7, 1921, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.

Krinkee’s death is also the first homicide of an officer since June 26, 1997, when three Wyoming State Penitentiary inmates stabbed Wyoming Department of Corrections Cpl. Wayne Martinez, 27, to death during an escape attempt. The suspects fled in a truck, but other officers shot at them at an exterior fence. They survived and were convicted of Martinez’s murder and sentenced to life in prison. 

More Coverage

Sheridan Contractor Organizing Volunteer Effort To Rebuild House Destroyed During Standoff

'A Small Whimper': Sheridan City Worker Rescues Dog From Flooded Barricade House

Suspect In Sheridan Cop Killing Was Squatting In Rental House

Neighbors Devastated Over Killing Of Sheridan Police Officer

30 Hours In, Still No Surrender In Sheridan Standoff With Suspected Cop Killer

Standoff In Sheridan, Wyoming Continues: Suspected Killer Reportedly Shoots At Cops

‘Come Out The Front Door!’ Standoff With Suspected Sheridan Cop Killer Hits 24-Hours

Gordon Orders Flags At Half-Staff For Slain Sheridan Police Officer

Suspected Sheridan Cop Killer Remains Barricaded In House As Standoff Nears 24 Hours

Sheridan Police Officer Killed In Line Of Duty, Suspect Barricades Himself

‘Incredibly Saddening’: Wyoming Reacts To Killing Of Sheridan Police Officer

Sheridan Police Officer Shot And Killed, Suspect In Standoff With Law Enforcement

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com, Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com and Pat Maio can be reached at pat@cowboystatedaily.com.