More details are emerging about the circumstances surrounding last Friday’s standoff suspect Chris Solida, his alleged shooting of his wife, and the fate of the children he brought with him from Oklahoma to Kansas. A week after the tense four-hour confrontation that closed 10 Street, we are learning about a sad domestic situation that went horribly wrong.

Solida wound up in Great Bend with his kids in a parking lot, surrounded by law enforcement officers from multiple local and state agencies. There were snipers with their weapons drawn and a tactical response team ready to go.

The Oklahoma man, apparently distraught over what he had done, was scared and armed. There was a real recipe for tragedy.

Step back from this for a moment and look at the national picture. Officers across the country are in the hot seat for their uses of force – some deservedly so, but others just the victims of mass hysteria.

Now, focus back on that standoff between Perkins Restaurant and the Best Western Angus Inn. 

Sure, there was an army of nearly 40 cops on hand, but not a shot was fired. In fact, no one was hurt at the scene. The two young children slept through most of the ordeal.

Why? Despite all the firepower, it was the negotiations that talked Solida out of that vehicle.

“I don’t know that I could find the words,” Great Bend Police Chief Cliff Couch said. “If you are in this line of work long enough, you see enough times it doesn’t work out right it weighs on your mind.”

He went on to say that they had done some praying that they would arrive at this outcome. Divine intervention or not, the actions of our local law enforcement must be commended.

They brought a potentially awful situation to a peaceful close. It is hoped that these types of actions by our officers receive as much attention as the negative ones do.

This is a dangerous and thankless job. But, it is time they deserve some thanks.

Dale Hogg