Michele Cook was drawn from after, crisis negotiators her home in the Whethersfield tried to talk the suspect out community Thursday night by of his apartment. the buzz of blades from a One officer said he heard state police helicopter that several rounds being fired hovered near the roof of an that hit the building behind adjacent apartment complex. him. She wasn't sure what was Navarro said the incident happening, but she knew it could have been much worse couldn't be good. because of the apartment's She looked and saw some kids proximity to a busy highway. heading toward a gap between "The highway is a couple two homes in clear view of hundred feet away from his the Christiana Meadows apartment window, so he had apartments in Bear. They were easy access to Del. 1," he headed toward the flashing said. sirens from nearly 50 police Neighbors said they know cars. little about Stanley. One "I said, 'Guys, I don't know said he "had a look as if he what's going on, but I'd be was somewhere else." A court careful,' " said Cook, 58. search showed that Stanley Cook's instincts were correct. has no criminal record in Police were in the middle of Delaware. In 1993, he was a six-hour standoff with a convicted of driving with a gunman in a third-floor suspended license. apartment that faced Del. 1 Tamara Skis of Christiana between Christiana and Bear. Meadows said she was walking He struck a passing car and from her car to her apartment fired a hail of bullets near at about 8 p.m. when she a police officer, court heard gunshots and ran for documents show. safety. She made it to her The alleged shooter, David W. apartment and heard Stanley's Stanley, eventually was door being blown off hours arrested early Friday. No one later. was injured. "While standing outside Cook's reaction was typical talking to neighbors, two of of nearby residents. While the men that I thought looked some first thought that like [police] snipers came fireworks were being set off, around a building and simply the mood quickly changed to said, 'We got him,' " Skis uncertainty and fear when said. they realized the popping Skis said people were looking noises were gunfire. from their balconies and "Stanley admitted that he sneaking peaks from their fired up to 10 rounds from windows throughout the his apartment and stated he standoff. was shooting at the sky," Kari Pagan, who recently according to the 36-year- moved into Stanley's complex, old's arrest affidavit. said the incident caused her But that's not how the people to have a sleepless night. near the bullets remember it. "There are always kids riding Stanley allegedly fired from bikes around the parking lot, his third-floor apartment families walking with their window between 7:36 p.m. and children and pets," she said. 1:40 a.m., when New Castle "Someone could have gotten County SWAT officers took him hurt or killed. I definitely into custody. The officers want to get to know my used an explosive on his door, neighbors better. Then we can then sent a robot into the look out for one another apartment as a precaution better." before they went in (3 of 3) themselves. Brothers Mike and Nick Fink They arrested Stanley and live in the Christiana seized several weapons, Meadows housing development Navarro said. Stanley was on School Bell Road behind alone and gave up without the Christiana Meadows resisting, Navarro said. apartment complex, where Del. 1 between Del. 273 and U. Stanley lives. Mike thought S. 40 was closed during the the popping noises were standoff. Several apartments fireworks, but Nick, a were evacuated. military man, immediately Little is known about Stanley. recognized them to be The affidavit didn't mention semiautomatic gunfire. a motive other than his For a while, they thought it comment about firing into the was a manhunt in the streets, air. A man who answered the not a barricaded subject in phone at his mother's Newark an apartment, they said. home said she would not Whethersfield resident Chuck comment. Bonstall said he also thought (2 of 3) the noises were fireworks, At least one car, traveling but the leader of his north on Del. 1, was struck community's town watch by gunfire, Navarro said. The program told him what was victim heard a loud bang and happening. pulled over because he Staci Carroll of thought he had engine trouble. Whethersfield said she He saw a hole in his driver's learned what was happening by side door, but thought it was listening to a police scanner. from a piece of debris that "I was very concerned," she flew up from the road. said. When he got to his Recent incidents of crime in Pennsylvania home and saw a the surrounding area, such as televised report about the robberies at banks and standoff, he checked his car grocery stores, have her wary and determined it was a about where she lives. bullet hole. He drove the Stanley was charged with two vehicle to New Castle County counts of reckless police headquarters and an endangerment that creates a officer extracted a .45- substantial risk of death to caliber slug from the steel another and two counts of door, Navarro said. possession of a firearm Police believe Stanley fired during the commission of a the rounds from a felony. He failed to post $12, semiautomatic pistol. 000 bail and was taken to The first officers on the Young Correctional scene saw a muzzle flash Institution, according to coming from a third-floor court officials. window in Building 2800. Soon
Tags: cars, crime, Delaware, Gunman, passing, police, shot
