I live to be submissive

BY ELIZABETH DONALD AND MARIA BARAN
News-Democrat



A police standoff began with a truck slamming into a warehouse door with a fiery crash, and ended with a man shooting himself in the head.



Roger W. Adams, 51, rammed his truck into the Schneider National Inc. warehouse in the Gateway Commerce Center about 2:08 a.m. Saturday, police said.



On Sunday, Adams was on life support in a St. Louis hospital and was not expected to survive, said Ben Dickmann, city administrator for Edwardsville. Dickmann said a decision was being made on whether organs would be donated. Dickmann said he incorrectly reported late Saturday that Adams had died.



Adams is a Schneider truck driver with significant personal, financial and work-related problems, according to Madison County State’s Attorney Thomas Gibbons.



The truck crash set off a fire, but officials are not sure if it was loaded with any materials that accidentally or intentionally exploded, according to Edwardsville Police Chief James Bedell.



Though armed with an unspecified handgun, Adams did not try to take any hostages or prevent the employees on duty from leaving, police said. Officials said 911 calls came in from at least one employee and from Adams himself, and operators kept him on the phone until negotiators could be located.



Over the next several hours, Adams spoke intermittently with negotiators while allegedly setting small fires throughout the building. None of them took hold thanks to the building’s sprinkler systems, Bedell said.



At about 10:45 a.m., police advanced into the building and observed Adams, who was barricaded in an office at that point. During negotiations he was “concerned and nervous,” Gibbons said, and was not responsive for long periods of time.



“We were talking to him and trying to get him to surrender,” Bedell said.



Then at 11:49 a.m., police used tear gas in an attempt to get Adams to surrender. Upon encountering the gas, Bedell said, Adams declared he was going to shoot himself. They heard a gunshot, and found him with a single gunshot wound to the head.



Adams was taken to Anderson Hospital, then airlifted to St. Louis University Hospital.



“It is unfortunate that the subject made the decision to take his own life,” Gibbons said. “He was given every opportunity to come out safely and peacefully.”



Gibbons said investigators did not immediately find any relatives, and do not know if anyone else lived in Adams’ home.



During his conversations with police, Adams said that his house might be on fire. Gibbons said police sequestered the house and had planned to examine it via robots for any devices. “He indicated that the house may be booby-trapped,” Gibbons said.



At least 50 first responders were at the scene at the warehouse, though police could not allow firefighters into the building with an armed suspect, Bedell said.



Edwardsville Fire Chief Rick Welle, who serves as the Emergency Services and Disaster Agency coordinator, activated a mutual aid box alarm that automatically summoned the assistance of several surrounding fire departments.



The Madison County Emergency Management Agency and several other fire and police departments from Madison and St. Clair counties responded to the scene. The negotiators included an Edwardsville police officer, FBI agent and an Alton police officer, Bedell said.



A hazardous materials team was also called in case there were unknown hazards in Adams’ truck, and Schneider National handles a variety of merchandise and materials, including some that could be considered hazardous, Bedell said. While the Gateway Commerce Center lies on the boundary between Edwardsville and Pontoon Beach, Schneider National and the area of the fires and standoff were on the Edwardsville side.
Contact reporter Elizabeth Donald at edonald@bnd.com or 239-2501. Contact reporter Maria Baran at mbaran@bnd.com or 239-2460.



© 2011 Belleville News-Democrat and news service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.bnd.com

historical-nonfiction:

• the average US life expectancy was 47 years old
• only 14% of homes had a bathtub
• the maximum speed in most cities was 10 mph
• the tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower
• more than 95% of births took place at home
• 90% of US physicians had no college education
• Canada passed a law…