Long standoff at Hilltop apartments ends peacefully

Apr. 20—The Free Press

MANKATO — A police standoff that started Tuesday involving a man accused of abducting his son last month ended peacefully Thursday.

The city of Mankato posted on social media just after noon Thursday that the incident at Hilltop Lane Apartments "has been safely resolved and there was a peaceful resolution. Both father and son are safe, and there are no injuries."

The standoff started late Tuesday afternoon when police attempted to apprehend 29-year-old Walter Brown, according to a release from the city. Brown reportedly fled on foot, firing a gun at a pursuing officer, who wasn't injured, before holing up in a nearby apartment in the Hilltop Lane area.

Police issued a shelter in place order in the area, which was lifted Wednesday as negotiations with Brown continued. SWAT teams and other law enforcement personnel were seen gradually leaving the area late Thursday morning.

Brown and the son, 2-year-old Koran Kory Brown, were taken to the hospital in Mankato for further evaluation, according to an update from the city.

"Any charges related to this incident are pending as the Mankato Department of Public Safety continues its investigation of the case," the news release stated.

The standoff on Hilltop Lane lasted nearly two days.

Cindy Chatleain and Rhonda Hasch were working at Independent Interiors, near the apartment where the standoff occurred, when it started. The first night of it was scary, they said, with plenty of activity outside on the frontage road.

"It was just nerve-wracking," Hasch said. "All of our phones went off at the same time with an alert."

A law enforcement officer came by Tuesday evening to check in and ask them to stay inside, Chatleain said. The situation at the business was calmer Wednesday and Thursday, she added.

Bev Stevens, owner of the longtime business, said she was concerned about the nearby situation but didn't feel unsafe. The women at the store praised police for containing the situation to the apartment.

Nearby residents reported hearing law enforcement using loud speakers and sirens to convince Brown to surrender Wednesday evening. He eventually did sometime before noon Thursday, although an exact timeline hadn't been released as of Thursday afternoon.

The abduction of the toddler reportedly occurred March 24, a court complaint states, when Brown took the boy from the mother's residence. Brown had a domestic abuse no-contact order against him barring him from contact with the woman and did not have legal custody of the child.

She told police he came to her residence, took the 2-year-old and left the apartment with him.

After attempts to contact Brown, according to the complaint, she said he called her March 27 and refused to return the child. He made several vague threats during the call.

Phone monitoring suggested Brown's phone was at an airport in Alcoa, Tennessee, on March 30. More records suggested the phone was located afterward in Memphis, Tennessee, and the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport.

The charges against Brown on April 4 came about a week and a half after the alleged abduction. He faces felonies for violating the DANCO order and refusing to return the child.

Brown has two convictions on his record related to domestic violence. Both occurred in Ramsey County, one in 2013 and the other in 2014.