Batavia house lockdown ends Tuesday evening; man in custody

A barricade situation in Batavia ended Tuesday night after more than eight hours, during which two schools went on lockdown and residents were forced to lock their doors and stay inside.

Police say an armed man who barricaded himself inside a house on the 800 block of Roberts Lane was placed into custody around 8:30 p.m. He was transported to the hospital for evaluation, but it's not believed he had any injuries, according to Lt. Pat Gengler of the Kane County sheriff's office.

Police have not released any information about who the man is or whether he will face any charges.

Residents on the 700 and 800 block of Roberts Lane were allowed to return to their homes after 8:30 p.m. Those who were already in their homes when the lockdown started at 12:30 p.m. were told to stay inside, according to an automatic message police sent via telephone.

The lockdown meant Batavia High School and Alice Gustafson Elementary School students had to stay in their classrooms for much of the afternoon, though by 5 p.m., students were being released. The school district sent specific directions to parents, via email and text alert systems, on how to pick up students on the east side of Gustafson. They also needed to show photo identification.

High school students were allowed to leave via the Wilson Street side of the campus. But students who drove to school and parked in the south parking lots, or on Millview Drive, weren't immediately allowed access to their cars.

The situation affected busing for schools throughout the district, as some buses were already at the schools when the lockdown began.

Traffic around the site of the incident, on Roberts Lane south of Main Street, was blocked, but all streets had reopened later Tuesday night.

Batavia police were assisted by the Kane County Regional SWAT team.