As dawn broke in a Jacksonville neighborhood usually filled with the sounds of teachers and staff arriving for the day, the peace was pierced with the tinny resonance of police using a loudspeaker to urge a barricaded man to surrender.
It was a message repeated over and over for hours Friday until the man finally stepped out of the house in the 700 block of Park Street and was taken into custody.
Jacksonville police had initially responded about 1:20 a.m. to the house because of a domestic disturbance in which shots were reportedly fired. One woman was taken to Jacksonville Memorial Hospital for treatment and later released.
Officers said the woman had been struck and a firearm was discharged.
Jacksonville police tried to talk to the man who remained inside, identified as 37-year-old Thomas M. Loughary, but he was uncooperative, according to a police report. Illinois State Police was called to assist with crisis negotiators and SWAT officers.
Because of the proximity to Jacksonville Middle School and some Illinois College outdoor facilities, the middle school was closed for the day and the college canceled outdoor activities.
For hours, multiple law enforcement officers from Illinois State Police, Jacksonville police and Morgan County Sheriff’s Department kept watch and tried to get Loughary to communicate with them. About 8 a.m., the man briefly appeared at a window and then opened the front door several times long enough to yell expletives as police offered to provide a cellphone so he could talk to them.
“We need to know everything is OK inside. We need to communicate with you. We are not going away,” a voice over the loudspeaker said.
The front door slammed shut and the waiting continued for more than three more hours.
About 11:30 a.m., Loughary left the house, stopped on a front stoop to show he was unarmed, and was taken into custody.
He was taken to Jacksonville Memorial Hospital for evaluation, according to police. Neither he nor officers were injured, according to a report.
Police said later Friday that Loughary was arrested on charges of domestic battery, aggravated discharge of a firearm, possession of a weapon by a felon, and possession of a weapon with a revoked firearm owner’s card.
Loughary was being held in the Morgan County jail while awaiting a court appearance.
Dennis Mathes of the Journal-Courier contributed information to this article.