RACINE — It all started just before 10:00 a.m. Wednesday at Cliffside Park in Caledonia, when a person saw a man wearing all black lying down on the path and called 9-1-1.
Police arrived on scene and reported over their radios that the 37-year-old fired a gun, causing the officers to take cover.
Previous Coverage: Resident reacts to shelter-in-place order amid police situation in Caledonia (tmj4.com)
The shots led to a tactical response, involving the Racine County Sheriff’s Office, Caledonia Police Department, Mount Pleasant Police Department, Wisconsin State Patrol, and Caledonia Fire Department.
VIDEO: Racine Police surround scene of Monday house fire following tactical situation
Investigators said they tried to negotiate a peaceful resolution, but the man took actions that forced officers to open fire. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
After seeing our reports, the man's family told TMJ4 News he was the son of a woman who died in a house fire on Monday morning in Racine.
The Racine Police Department confirmed the investigation was ongoing.
When our crews arrived on scene, police were at the home of the fire.
Just before noon Wednesday, neighbors said they saw a flurry of police activity around the house.
“Within minutes, there were five to ten cop cars over here,” said Hayley, who lives a few doors down. “They started barricading everything off, putting caution tape up, and saying we all had to move out of the way because now it was an active crime scene at that spot where they had to do another investigation."
Family identified the woman killed in the fire as Cheryl Christensen.
Her neighbor said that she was a very routine woman, and she would always see Christensen in her kitchen window every night except Sunday, the night before the fire.
“That night before, there was no lights on upstairs which was really weird, and all of the lights downstairs were on so you could see them through the windows, and I was like, 'That's kind of weird because it hasn't been that way in two years.'”
A police van has been stationed outside of the home this week according to neighbors.
The Racine Police Department could not confirm if the two incidents were connected.
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