On March 5, 2026 at 1pm a text alert went out from the Hastings Police Department due to an active
incident in the 1900 block and Maple Street area. For residents in the vicinity of the 1900 block, a text alert advised sheltering-in-place until receiving additional guidance from the Hastings police department.
At 3:22pm officers cleared the area and the shelter-in-place advisory was lifted.
KDWA connected with Deputy Police Chief Bryan Schowalter for insight.
“Yesterday morning, late in the morning, officers were dispatched to the 1900 block of Maple Street regarding an adult male who was in crisis. And this is not an uncommon call for us. We get these calls on a daily basis. The only difference was that we were advised by the reporting party that this individual was under the influence of alcohol and that he did have firearms in his possession at that moment. So based on the call, obviously officers got out there and attempted to contact him by phone, and as they were speaking with him by phone, and through confirmation from a roommate, he was threatening suicide-by-cop if officers approached the residence. So, based on that, officers established a bit of a perimeter around the residence, because until we can clearly understand what’s going on, how this individual is behaving, and what he may need or want and what we have available to him, we have to make sure the public is safe. And at that point, that’s why we had established an Everbridge, or that notification system, telling everybody that was within 500 yards of that residence to just shelter in place. This isn’t an order. This isn’t the demand. It is just information saying, ‘Hey, we have an incident going on. Please, shelter in place.’ We continued with that. And we actually had an officer who is a crisis negotiator, who was on shift while this was taking place, and that officer spoke with this individual for approximately four hours on the phone. He did a fabulous job of kind of establishing a rapport, finding out what was going on, building a little bit of a history with this gentleman. His demeanor was amplifying at times, and then he was also becoming calmer at times. So, we decided to just, let’s sit in place. Let’s let the officer discuss what’s going on with this gentleman, see if we can get him some resources. And by the end, he had really calmed down a lot. He hadn’t violated any laws at that point in time, and our presence was escalating his demeanor. So, we decided to withdraw and have him communicate with a social worker. So, 95% of the communication was done with an officer. It wasn’t until we were leaving that we had him put in touch with a social worker. There were no crimes that were violated. He was becoming very cooperative and conversational. So, at that point in time, the best thing to do is just get him some resources and help. And getting him on the phone with the social worker was the best bet at that point.”
If anyone is experiencing self-harming thoughts and would like help from the situation, Deputy Police Chief Schowalter offers a resource.
“Best thing to do is call 988. 988 is a suicide and crisis lifeline. And the good thing about (988) is you can call or text and you can speak with somebody immediately. So, that is something that is utilized quite regularly, and it does go to the crisis hotline for this area. We can’t stress that enough. That’s who we get in touch with. If we’re out on the street dealing with somebody, that’s who we call and we do our best to get them in touch with someone who can offer them all sorts of resources to get them into a better place.”
(To listen to the broadcast, click the soundbite.)