“We utilize Nixle which is a free, opt-in, message service for emergency alerts, community alerts, etc, and I just figured that is our quickest way to get the word out,” Calhoon said.
Calhoon says his office received a tip from Nebraska authorities that the suspect, Desiderio Hernandez, might be in Horton with a relative. Shortly thereafter they located the Falls City, Nebraska man in a mobile home at 510 W. 9th Street in Horton. When Hernandez spotted the officers, Calhoon says the suspect barricaded himself inside the mobile home.
Two Horton officers kept an eye on the front and back doors while they asked for additional help, Calhoon said.
“There were two officers there immediately, and then as the evening continued, we ended up with well over, probably, 30 law enforcement officers, into the wee hours of the morning,” Calhoon said. “We had a lot of help.”
“I made a decision to contact the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office and their SWAT team.”
Deputies from Jackson and Brown counties in Kansas, along with Kansas Highway Patrol Troopers and a paramedic response team were also on the scene.
“We did eventually end up using some flash-bangs, and finally started getting some movement in the trailer, and were able to do some negotiating, and then, obviously, when their eyes were on him they were able to deploy a taser,” Calhoon said.
“From that point they were able to go in and get him.”
Authorities in Falls City, Nebraska charge Mr Hernandez with second-degree murder for a shooting in Falls City Wednesday. The victim, 31-year-old Joseph DeBella Jr of Falls City, was in critical condition at the Bryan Trauma Center West Campus in Lincoln Thursday afternoon, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.
A judge in Brown County Kansas was expected to hear an extradition request Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile, state troopers from Nebraska were in Horton Thursday morning, looking for evidence in the shooting case. Horton would not say if their search included recovery of the weapon allegedly used in Falls City. Horton said at the time the taser was deployed, Mr Hernandez was not armed.