NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Friday, February 19, 2010
INCIDENTS
Amistad NRA
Armed Confrontation Resolved Near Park Campground
On the morning of Saturday, February 13th, rangers heard radio traffic from the Del Rio Police Department and Val Verde Sheriff's Office regarding the pursuit of a vehicle with a man and woman who'd shot at officers. The officers had originally responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle that appeared to be “casing” a local business. They found that the vehicle was reported stolen in Missouri. Attempts to detain the couple were unsuccessful. A vehicle pursuit throughout the city of Del Rio followed, with shots allegedly being fired at pursuing officers. Despite two flat tires, the vehicle continued for approximately four miles out of town to the park's San Pedro campground. Rangers evacuated the campground, then joined the pursuit. The vehicle crashed into the brush and became stuck, at which point the man and woman bailed out and ran off on foot. They were soon spotted by officers in a Texas DPS helicopter, who guided rangers and other officers to their location. A stand-off ensued, with the man holding a pistol to his head and refusing to surrender. For more than two and a half hours, negotiators from the Del Rio Police Department and DPS Texas rangers attempted to have the man and woman peacefully surrender. When a Texas ranger saw the man remove his finger from the trigger of his pistol, he fired one round at the man's wrist, causing him to drop his gun. The Texas ranger and an NPS ranger then rushed the man and took him into custody. The woman, who had been sitting next to him throughout the ordeal, was also taken into custody without further incident. Numerous state and federal charges are pending against the couple. [Regina Klein Dissler, Chief Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:
Cape Hatteras NS - Workers continue to make progress on the restoration of the Bodie Island lighthouse. Last week, visitors and community members watched as elaborate exterior scaffolding was installed around the entire lighthouse.
Great Smoky Mountains NP - On Saturday, February 6th, an agreement was signed by the Secretary of Interior, the State of North Carolina, Swain County, and the Tennessee Valley Authority that ended 67 years of indecision over the future of a proposed new North Shore Road through Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Photo.
Grand Teton NP - Wildlife-vehicle collision statistics for the past five years reveal that an average of 33 deer, 38 elk, ten bison, seven moose, three pronghorn, two bears and one wolf are killed each year on park roads. In addition, a host of smaller animals die each year as a result of collisions with automobiles.
Servicewide Training Calendar - A compilation of upcoming training courses offered by the NPS and its partners across the nation. One course has been added to this week's listing - training on wildlife enforcement and field investigations at Denali in June.
To see these and other stories posted on InsideNPS (or NPS Digest, its public version), click on one or the other of the following links (please note that not all stories in the former appear in the latter):
NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index
Non-NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/
NPS serious incident submission standards can be found at the following web site: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/notify" http://inside.nps.gov/notify
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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).
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