NEBRASKA CITY – A Palmyra man will spend at least 180 days in county jail after a nine-hour standoff with police in January of 2022.

Christopher McKinney, 42, told District Judge Julie Smith that Otoe County sheriff’s deputies came to his house with guns drawn. When he learned they did not have a warrant, he ordered them to leave.

McKinney said he recognizes that the deputies were called because he was emotionally upset and was having suicidal ideation, but said the deputies gave him no option but to drop his weapon and walk towards theirs.

 

Otoe County Attorney Jennifer Panko-Rahe said McKinney asked the deputies about their body armor and pointed out areas that he would shoot them. She said the deputies told McKinney they were just there to keep him safe, but when McKinney started up the stairs of his house with a shotgun and handgun the deputies took up position outside of the house.

Panko-Rahe said McKinney’s letter to the court makes it sound like there was just a single, uncharacteristic incident. She noted, however, that the encounter started at 3:30 a.m. and did not end until 12:45 p.m. the following afternoon.

She said when McKinney let his dogs out of the house at 10:30 in the morning, he saw deputies and the Nebraska State Patrol SWAT team outside.

Panko-Rahe: “Instead of surrendering at that point, he continued to be combative.”

McKinney said he slept after the deputies left the residence and was surprised to see his house surrounded.

McKinney: “I wasn’t comfortable with 40 guns pointed at me.”

McKinney told the judge the deputies did their job in response to his suicidal ideation and said he may not have survived the night had they not intervened, but said he was upset that they were in his house and trying to control his actions at gunpoint.

Judge Smith said McKinney did not surrender until after a State Patrol tank was deployed.

Smith: “You are extremely fortunate that you survived this. Getting into an armed standoff with officers is dangerous for law enforcement officers and the suspect.”

She sentenced him to 360 days in jail and 18 months post-release supervision. She said she would sentence him to county jail rather that the department of corrections because he can get work release at the county jail.