Submitted by:
Sergeant Jim Neumayer
Missoula Police Department
Tactical Team Leader
On Friday, August 30th, 1996, at approximately 11:46 A.M., 9-1-1 Dispatch received a report of a T.O.P. violation (Temporary Order of Protection) in progress. The caller stated her husband was outside her door talking to one of her small children.
Officers responded immediately to the area and when they approached the subject, later identified as Marty Cooley, he ran inside the house and slammed the door. Officers were able to grab the three-year old girl and move her to safety.
The caller, identified as Lisa Cooley, said her husband had a gun and was telling her to hang up the phone. Lisa was alone in the house with an infant child. A scuffle ensued and the line went dead. The windows were shut, curtains drawn and the standoff between law enforcement and Marty Cooley had begun.
All members of the City S.W.A.T. and Negotiations Teams were summoned to the scene and a Command Post was established in a Shopko parking lot approximately one block away from the Cooley home. The County Sheriff’s S.W.A.T. and Kalispell S.W.A.T. Teams were called in and Teams were established, to include inner and outer perimeter, sniper/observer and negotiations. The number of personnel involved between the three teams allowed for rotation of personnel every six hours. Before their rotation, each Team was briefed on the Rules of Engagement, Containment Order and any strategic or situational updates.
On Saturday morning at 6:30 A.M., hostage Lisa Cooley and her ten-month old baby managed to escape as the suspect had fallen asleep. Lisa and the baby were immediately given medical treatment, and Lisa was able to provide valuable information regarding Marty’s state of mind, possible intentions, the layout of the house and the potential weapons involved. The incident was reclassified to an armed barricaded suspect.
For the next two days, numerous tactical maneuvers were utilized to include shutting off the electricity and gas, trimming the hedges and bushes, cutting a wire fence for tactical considerations and a hard line phone delivery. All of these actions took place at night.
On Sunday, it was decided to place four (4) city dump trucks and front end loaders on Clark Street (where the Cooley home was located) to further confine the area of containment and add another tactical advantage to the S.W.A.T. Teams. There was also hope that this would cause an emotional barrier which would encourage Marty to end the standoff peacefully.
On Monday, the Incident Commanders met and decisions were made regarding the use of chemical agents, in hopes that Marty would come out of the house. Many issues were taken into consideration to include the close proximity of an elementary school and high school which would be back in session Tuesday. This incident had occurred on a holiday weekend and an influx of traffic was being expected with the end of the weekend as well as reports of inclement weather. The safety of the tactical officers on the inner and outer perimeter were also taken into consideration.
On Monday afternoon, the deployment of chemical agents, C.S. and Pepper Gas, started and were aimed at specific targets or areas. During the deployment, attempts continued to coax Marty out of the house. Contact with Marty ceased and after a period of inactivity, an authorized system of breaking the windows was done in an attempt to locate Marty.
Marty Cooley was found inside the home, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The scene was immediately secured by crime scene personnel until the arrival of the Montana Criminal Investigation Bureau and all further investigation was turned over to them.
TRAINING LESSONS
Some valuable lessons were learned from this situation, especially concerning the use of smaller department Tactical Teams.
Recently, S.W.A.T./Negotiations training had been combined by the Missoula Police Department Team, Missoula County Sheriff’s Office Team, and Kalispell’s Team. This training was done at least twice a year and it proved invaluable.
All the Teams involved in this particular incident regularly trade training schedules, even if an entire Team is unable to attend specific training events, sending those members who are available has been a viable option.
Through a Mutual Aid Agreement, ground rules for the incident were already set in place with each Team knowing its responsibilities. Placement within the unit had also already been established. Inventories of tactical equipment including chemical agents and less than lethal munitions had also been exchanged between the Agencies.
Budgeting for the amount of chemical agents and keeping those agents current is extremely difficult for departments with smaller budgets. As in this incident, chemical agents were drawn from all three Department’s involved.
Having this incident work logistically as well as it did, can be attributed to the Incident Command System and teamwork from all the Agencies involved. Everyone pulled together and focused for a successful outcome.
