'A Small Whimper': Two Dogs Rescued From Sheridan Barricade House

UPDATE: Sheridan Contractor Organizing Volunteer Effort To Rebuild House Destroyed During Standoff

A Sheridan city utility maintenance worker rescued a large dog Wednesday from the flooded basement of a house in which an armed shooting suspect barricaded himself for the better part of two days.

Another responder on scene later rescued the homeowner's smaller dog, Willie, as well.

But the homeowner’s long-haired cat, Cersei, was still missing as of Thursday morning, searchers told Cowboy State Daily.

William Lowery, 46, reportedly shot Sheridan Police Sgt. Nevada Krinkee to death Tuesday morning, then fled the scene. He took cover in a different house owned by a Sheridan woman.

The man reportedly fired toward the police agents surrounding the woman’s home during a standoff of more than 30 hours that followed. He tried to escape the home Wednesday evening, but was shot and died on scene, according to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation.

DCI has not named the suspect, but an early police bulletin issued after Krinkee was killed named Lowery.

House Wrecked

Numerous readers have reached out to Cowboy State Daily with concern for the homeowner and for her house, which is in ruins with at least one side appearing completely ripped open.

Agents peppered the house with gas projectiles, lobbed gas grenades into it, blasted it with firehose water and tore it open with an excavator during the standoff.

In the flooded basement, a large dog named Mia was taking refuge on a pile of debris.

Homeowner Karo Hamilton nuzzles Willie, who was found in the rubble of a Sheridan house that became the scene of a standoff Tuesday. Mia, another dog rescued from the home, joins in the hug. (Courtesy Brookelynn Hamilton)

A Small Whimper

Authorities called city utilities maintenance worker Tyler Gay to the scene after the suspect’s death to shut off the water supply to the house, since a waterline had been ripped out during the attempt to get the suspect out, Gay told Cowboy State Daily in a Thursday message exchange.

Gay went to the side of the house and the water source. Everything seemed fine at first, but when he investigated to be sure, he said he heard a “small whimper.”

He moved some debris away from and exposed a hole in the floor leading to the basement, which had between 2 and 3 feet of water in it. Standing on a pile of debris in the corner was a German shepherd, he said.

“She was looking at me and couldn’t move due to all the water (that) had frozen into ice,” he said. “She was soaking wet and freezing cold, which I assume made it more difficult for her to move.”

Wednesday morning brought freezing rain and snow to Sheridan. The afternoon calmed to cloudy conditions, but hovered around 24 degrees, well below freezing.

Gay made sure the debris was secure enough for him to get to the dog, and he pulled her out of the basement, he said.

“We got her to (an) officer’s car with the heater running and wrapped her in a blanket to get her warm again,” he said.

Gay went to the house one more time to check for Willie and Cersei. He said he crawled “as far into the basement as I safely could” and shone his flashlight around, but he didn’t see the other two animals.

The owner of a Sheridan home destroyed during the course of a long standoff with police and an armed suspect says two of her pets Willy, left, and Cersei are still missing. (Courtesy Photos)

Please Contact If Seen

Cowboy State Daily has been in touch with the homeowner, who said Wednesday she was not ready to discuss the incident.

She asked community members on social media Wednesday morning to keep an eye out for her missing pets. A long-haired grey cat, Cersei, was also still missing as of midday Thursday.

Mia is recovering but traumatized, one of the searchers told Cowboy State Daily.

“So far Mia is doing OK, which is what matters, but is clearly stressed out and experiencing some trauma recovery,” Lisa Crowshoe said in a Thursday message.

The homeowner's daughter said Willie was dirty and dehydrated when found but got some fluids while at an animal shelter temporarily.

Into A Standoff

Lowery reportedly shot Krinkee while the sergeant was trying to serve a trespass notice Tuesday morning at the rental house from which Lowery had been evicted one day earlier by a judge’s order.

Lowery had not paid rent on the home since September, and his landlords filed a civil complaint against him in January, according to court documents.

The Sheridan Circuit Court judge had ordered Lowery to pay owed rent and to be out of the house by Monday, Feb. 12.

After the shooting, Lowery fled toward the Sheridan woman’s home.

A man who lives across the street from her said he watched Lowery trying to get into the back of the house.

“Tall, thinner guy, bald — and when he got out of the red vehicle up here, he had no shirt on,” Ernie Portwine, the neighbor, told Cowboy State Daily at the scene of the standoff. “He was really antsy. I thought he was loaded up on drugs or something.”

Portwine later clarified that he was not sure if Lowery was on drugs.

He said he watched Lowery get a black T-shirt out of a bag and put it on, adding that, “He had a guitar case with him and a bag.”

Police came to Portwine’s door and said, “You gotta go – you gotta go now,” he related. He said he couldn’t go home for several hours while the standoff was ongoing.

He also lamented that Krinkee was shot, saying it’s “a sad thing all around.”

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