February 1st, 2018

Page 1

STUDENTS READY FOR SUPER BOWL PAGE 3 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018

LATE WEEK

STUDENTS PICKED UP TEMPORARY JOBS FOR SB LII.

MNDAILY.COM

Rashad Bowman, 43, leans out of the sixth floor window at 11:40 a.m. Tuesday after police fired gas into the room at the Graduate Hotel.

EASTON GREEN, DAILY

38 HOURS LATER, STANDOFF ENDS Rashad Bowman, 43, was holed up inside an East Bank hotel until Tuesday afternoon.

BY MIKE HENDRICKSON AND NICK WICKER mhendrickson@mndaily.com, nwicker@mndaily.com

Just after 1 p.m. Tuesday, 37 hours into a standoff, a pair of police flash bang grenades detonated inside 43-year-old Rashad Bowman’s hotel room on the University of Minnesota’s East Bank campus. Police shot gas munitions throughout the situation after Bowman threw a microwave out of his sixth-floor Graduate Hotel window earlier Tuesday. The munitions’ smoke poured from windows, and loud pops from flash grenades were audible across much of

the nearby area. At times, Bowman climbed out onto the window’s ledge and sat or stood while talking on the phone. Another flash-bang detonated as he straddled the window. The situation ended with the Woodbury man’s arrest within the hour. Sought after for a white-collar crime, Bowman’s 38-hour standoff with police turned into a spectacle that transfixed much of the University community. Bystanders stopped to observe the events, and a lack of official information raised uncertainty across campus.

JACK RODGERS, DAILY

ABOVE: SWAT personnel gathered outside the Graduate Hotel early Monday morning in response to the standoff. LEFT: Police were negotiating with Bowman inside the Graduate Hotel Monday morning. “We’ve been talking to that individual and asking them to come out for some time now,” said UMPD Chief Matt Clark.

u See STANDOFF Page 2

JACK RODGERS, DAILY

A group of people stand outside the bounds of police tape, looking on at the developing situation at the Graduate Hotel on Tuesday.

CAMPUS

HOTEL STANDOFF

U keeps classes running

Debunking hotel standoff myths

During the standoff, classes weren’t canceled at UMN’s campus on Monday and Tuesday. BY ELIANA SCHREIBER eschreiber@mndaily.com

Undeterred by a 38-hour standoff and a foot of snowfall in the last two weeks at the University of Minnesota, classes remained in session — to many students’ frustration. After a snow emergency last week, the nearly two-day-long standoff at the Graduate Hotel Monday and Tuesday and campus involvement with Super Bowl LII, many students are confused about the University’s

process in canceling classes school-wide. Mike Berthelsen, vice president for University Services, said the University rarely closes entirely, and many factors must be considered before canceling a day of classes. He said the last time he remembers the whole University closing was sometime in the early 1990s. Ultimately, Berthelsen said safety is the priority throughout the decision-making process. “The overriding principle is … how do we manage safety for the University community?” he said. “We try to think about all the variables that go into that.” u See CANCELLATIONS Page 3

Police never called it a hostage situation, no gun has been found and other answers. BY OLIVIA JOHNSON ojohnson@mndaily.com

An almost 38-hour standoff at the Graduate Hotel near the University of Minnesota campus attracted multiple police departments, SWAT teams, closed roads and produced various rumors and questions. The ordeal, which started midnight Sunday and ended around 1 p.m. Tuesday, involved 43-year-old Rashad Bowman of Woodbury, who is now booked at Hennepin County Jail.

Until 8:30 p.m. Monday, a 40-year-old woman was also in the room with Bowman. She was released unharmed and has been cooperating with police officers, according to Minneapolis Police Department spokesperson Scott Seroka. Tuesday morning, Bowman threw a microwave out of the hotel window and started fires in the room. Bowman refused to surrender throughout the standoff while police threw and fired gas and flash-bang grenades into the room. Some outlets reported that Bowman was armed, others labeled it a hostage situation and some students were frustrated that classes were not canceled. u See GRADUATE MY THS Page 3

VOLUME 118 ISSUE 35


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