Suicide stand-off ends peacefully

At 4:48 p.m. Wednesday, Bloomington Police Department officers responded to call at 2517 E. Fifth Street for a suicidal male with possible possession of gun.\nBloomington resident Eric Kinnard barricaded himself inside his house, clutching a .357 caliber handgun, and threatened suicide when his friend called police. \nBPD Lt. Mark Crouch was one of three responding officers to the scene.\n"The officers started to approach the house when a friend of the male approached them and told them that it would probably be better to keep back," Crouch said. "It's a good thing the friend was there. The officers would've walked up and walked into a potentially dangerous situation."\nThe officers attempted to call Kinnard to reason with him, but he disconnected the phone.\nIt was then that Crouch and the responding officers deemed the situation volatile and called in the the Critical Incident Response Team. \nBPD blocked off all surrounding blocks and immediate neighbors were asked to evacuate their homes while local residents were asked to stay inside their homes.\nBPD Capt. Michael Diekhoff described Kinnard as "despondent." He also said Kinnard had been drinking, although he was not sure how much. He did not threaten police or anyone else, but was threatening to commit suicide. \nThe negotiations were led by Sgt. Anthony Pope, and Kinnard was eventually coaxed out with the help of his lawyer, David Colman.\nAt 7:26 p.m., Kinnard voluntarily walked out of his house into the custody of police, and was transported to the Stress Care ward of Bloomington Hospital. \nIt is unsure if criminal charges will be filed.\n"(The situation) worked out really well," Diekhoff said. "Hopefully he can get his problems taken care of so something like this doesn't happen again."\nColman said he has been going through a rough time. \nAbout 11 months ago, Kinnard broke his ankle and had been unable to return to work. After recently receiving custody of his 4 year-old child, Colman said he had been in a tough spot financially. Colman does not believe this incident will have any bearing on the custody situation.\n"He called me in the midst and said there was police outside his house," Colman said. "He is in a very tough time, but I don't think this should affect his custody situation"