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Geneva man surrenders to police after standoff

Criminal charges may be brought against a man who was in a standoff with Geneva police for several hours Wednesday at his home in the 200 block of Syril Drive.

Geneva police are not releasing the 66-year-old man's name, however, until then.

The man surrendered to police around 1 p.m., Cmdr. Julie Nash said, adding police have "had contact" with the man before.

Police and a Kane County SWAT team had blocked off the area, and nearby schools - Williamsburg Elementary, Faith Christian and St. Peter Catholic - were placed on soft lockdown, authorities said.

Nash said police responded to the scene after the man's wife came to police headquarters and told officers there had been an argument, that the man was drunk and that he had a Glock 22 handgun in the house. The man fired the gun outside the house after she left, but before police arrived, according to Nash.

After surrendering, the man was treated for medical problems unrelated to the event, according to authorities.

Residents of Syril and several nearby streets were advised to stay in their homes.

Neighbor Randy Carlson returned home from shopping with his wife around 11 a.m. when he noticed a suspicious man standing behind a tree across the street.

"I ran and got my binoculars and I saw it was a police officer," Carlson said. "That was odd so I went and opened my front window to see what was going on. Just as I opened my window, two SWAT officers with huge guns walked right past my front window. They scared the hell out of me."

A short time later, Carlson said, police called and told he and his wife to lock their doors and stay inside.

"I wasn't going out there anyway," Carlson said. "Those SWAT guys were all over my backyard with their big guns."

• Daily Herald staff writer Justin Kmitch contributed to this story.

  A Geneva man surrendered to police about 1 p.m. Wednesday. Police responded to the 200 block of Syril Drive a couple hours earlier after a woman told police the man appeared intoxicated and had a firearm in the house. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
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