Could the Wheaton Il hostage situation have been better handled without the use of a SWAT team?”
“A three-hour standoff at Wheaton Bank and Trust Company ended without injury to hostages.” Police said the incident began with a false call of a hit-and-run in the bank parking lot. When the officer responded, suspect Michael Long allegedly put a knife to the officer’s throat and stole his gun. He then ran inside the bank. “Apparently, the hit-and-run accident was a ruse. A call was received by dispatch on the 911 line from a cell phone stating there had been a hit-and-run accident in the parking lot of the Wheaton Bank and Trust Company there at 211 South Wheaton. That came in at 1:28 P.M.,” said Dep. Chief Tom Meloni, Wheaton Police Department. “He was very calm, said that he wasn’t going to hurt anybody, it was just that he was having a very bad day,” said Kevin MacAdam, bank customer’s husband. After hearing a gunshot, the SWAT team entered the building at 211 South Wheaton Avenue. All hostages had already been released safely, and the suspect, Michael Long, 41, of Wheaton, was fo
