Sturgeon residents want to put events of Tuesday’s standoff behind them
STURGEON, Mo. (KMIZ)
Residents in Sturgeon are wanting things to get back to normal after a police standoff Tuesday left one man dead.
Damion Linder died Tuesday evening after an hours-long standoff with multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Boone County Sheriff's Office, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Sturgeon Police and Columbia Police.
Law enforcement had originally been called to the mobile home park in Sturgeon near Canada and Ruby Streets for a domestic assault call. Linder barricaded himself in his home and he and law enforcement exchanged gunfire, before Linder eventually died.
Boone County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Brian Leer said Tuesday that it was unclear if Linder died from police or a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Missouri State Highway Patrol is investigating. Linder’s family could be seen Wednesday cleaning up damage to his trailer. However, Linder’s trailer wasn’t the only home that received damage.
The trailer directly across from where the standoff took place also has multiple bullet holes in its side.
Royce Miller, who lives at the neighboring trailer, said one of the bullet holes went directly into his son’s headboard. He is just thankful his son wasn’t in the trailer at the time of the standoff.
"The most important thing isn't even the trailers, it's that everybody's safe," Miller said. "None of the cops got hurt, nobody got hurt except for (Linder)."
Insurance Information Institute spokesman Scott Holeman said bullet holes can sometimes be covered by insurance, if they are the result of theft or vandalism. He said homeowners need to compare the cost of repairs to the cost of their deductible.
"If the repair cost is less than the amount of the deductible, they wouldn't want to file an insurance claim," Holeman wrote in an email. "However, if there is extensive damage to an expensive window, door, or siding, it would make sense to file a claim.
Miller said law enforcement is supposed to come out and take photos of the damage for their investigation. Now, he just wants to move forward.
"Just everything back to normal, whatever normal is, just get back to our everyday lives," Miller said. "Let's put this behind us and embrace everybody here."
Other residents are feeling the same.
"This is the first time something like this has happened," Mary Walden said. "The trailer court, it was always peaceful."
"We live in a small enough town, you wouldn't think that something like this would happen," Steven Babcock said. "A lot of us just want to put it behind us."
