Crime, Law and Justice

Long standoff at Mankato apartment ends peacefully

Apartment incident
Blue Earth County sheriff’s deputies and a Department of Natural Resources officer with rifles watch over a building at the Hilltop Lane Apartments Tuesday. At about noon Thursday police said the incident had ended peacefully with no one hurt.
Pat Christman | Mankato Free Press

By The Free Press, The Mankato Free Press

The city of Mankato said on social media Thursday just after noon that the incident at Hilltop Lane Apartments “has been safely resolved and there was a peaceful resolution. Both father and son are safe, and there are no injuries.”

The standoff started late Tuesday afternoon when police attempted to apprehend 29-year-old Walter Brown. Brown reportedly fled on foot, firing a gun at a pursuing officer, who wasn't injured, before holing up in a nearby apartment in the Hilltop Lane area, according to a release from the city.

Police issued a shelter in place order in the area, which was lifted Wednesday as negotiations with Brown continued.

The abduction of the toddler occurred March 24, a court complaint states, when Brown took 2-year-old Koran Kory Brown from the mother's residence. Brown had a domestic abuse no-contact order against him making it illegal to contact the woman and he did not have legal custody over the child.

She told police she refused to let Brown in through the front door when he showed up at her residence, so he entered through a sliding door. After she took their two youngest children to a bedroom, he reportedly followed them, took the 2-year-old, and left the apartment with him.

After attempts to contact Brown, according to the complaint, she said he called her on March 27 and refused to bring back the child. He made several vague threats during the call.

Phone monitoring suggested Brown's phone was at an airport in Alcoa, Tennessee, on March 30. More records suggested the phone was later in Memphis, Tennessee, and the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport.

The charges against Brown on April 4 came about a week and a half after the alleged abduction. He faces felonies for violating the DANCO order and refusing to return the child.

It was unknown by the public during the standoff whether the child was with Brown in the apartment.

Multiple law enforcement personnel, including a SWAT team, have been on site during the standoff.