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Ranchers.net

07/25/2006

07/25/2006
Hostage had an 'inner feeling'
By JOHN LINDENBERGER , The North Platte Telegraph

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We like to think of our homes as our sanctuary - a place that we can go to feel safe and secure in an ever-increasingly chaotic and violent world.
For the Slack family of Sutherland, that all changed early Monday morning.
"We've helped people in the past, but after this experience I'm not opening the door for anybody ever again, I can tell you that," said Kirk Slack, a railroad conductor who was held hostage at gunpoint Monday for nearly six hours.
The gun-wielding suspect was Silvio Conrado, a 30-year-old teacher's aide from Lancaster, Calif., whose car had broken down on Interstate 80 just west of Sutherland near the Slacks' home.
Slack said Conrado forced his way into his house, demanding the keys to his car and taking the 46-year-old man as a hostage. The suspect was later shot and killed by a law enforcement officer after a four-and-a-half hour standoff near Big Springs.
"I have nothing but good things to say about all of the law enforcement people," Slack said in a phone interview Tuesday. "They don't pay those people enough money. They were just wonderful."
Slack said Conrado showed up at his house asking for help around midnight on Sunday. It was not unusual for a stranded motorist to stop for assistance at their home southwest of Sutherland.
Slack opened the door for the man, and then quickly tried to close it when the man drew a semi-automatic handgun.
Shots were fired, although Slack said he is unsure whether Conrado was shooting into the house. Slack struggled to close the door, but the unwelcome visitor overpowered him.
"I think the guy was on methamphetamine or PCP or something because it's like he had super human strength," Slack said. "I could not hold the door shut."
The crazed man forced his way into the home and demanded the keys to the family's vehicle while holding his gun to the father's head. Not content to just steal the car, Conrado took Slack along as a hostage.
Slack said the man was only in his home about three minutes. After they left, Slack's son, the youngest of three, called 911 on his cell phone to notify authorities about the situation.
"My sons were sleeping in the bedroom, and the oldest one woke up," Slack said. "He couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was like a bad nightmare because the guy was really loud."
Since the stolen vehicle only had an eighth of a tank of gas, Conrado asked his hostage where he could get some gas and beer. Slack directed him to Paxton.
When they arrived, Conrado made Slack get out of the car. They approached a clerk at Ole's Lodge, who was just getting off from work. When Conrado told her he was going to steal her car, Slack said she thought it was a joke.
To show that he was serious, Conrado shot his gun at the bumper of the Ford Focus. Slack said he missed the gas tank; otherwise the ordeal might have ended there.
Once Conrado had secured the keys to the woman's Ford Explorer, he and Slack got back on the interstate and continued west. They were soon being pursued by about a half dozen law enforcement vehicles.
Slack said Conrado drove only about 30-40 miles per hour along the interstate. The whole time they were together, Slack said the man seemed paranoid and irrational.
"This guy, he was just irrational the whole 5 or 6 hours I was with him," Slack said. "He said he was running from the mafia, from a bad drug deal, and they were out to get him."
Slack said Conrado drove into the median to avoid the first set of spikes that had been placed in the path of the stolen vehicle. They hit the second set of spikes, yet Conrado continued for a few more miles on flattened tires.
"I think what eventually happened is the transmission on the vehicle burned up," Slack said. "The vehicle just basically quit on us about a mile west of the Big Springs interchange."
During the four-and-a-half hour standoff, Slack said Conrado demanded water and a cell phone. Each time, the officers tried to get Conrado to release his hostage in exchange for the items.
"The whole time, I just felt the law enforcement people were very professional," Slack said. "They were trying to negotiate with this guy. Of course it's hard to negotiate with an insane mind."
Eventually, Conrado and Slack got out of the vehicle. Slack said the suspect stood behind him with a gun to his head. Meanwhile the negotiator kept asking Conrado to put down his gun.
That's when Slack heard a shot.
"I ran about 10 yards to the east and dove onto the interstate," Slack said. "I looked back, and it was like he was falling backward in slow motion. I thought that he had committed suicide."
However, Conrado had actually been shot by a Nebraska State Patrol sharpshooter shortly after 6 a.m. Monday.
During the six-hour ordeal, Slack said he was never really scared. Yet as he sat in the police car afterward, Slack said he became nervous thinking about all of the things that might have happened.
"I thought about trying to either grab the steering wheel and throw us into the interstate or grab the gun and turn it on him, but then I thought if I make a mistake here, it could be bad," Slack said.
He added he tried to remain cooperative, all the while praying for God to help him get home to his family.
"And it was just like this calmness came over me," Slack said. "I knew from that point on that I was going to come through it completely unscathed. I knew I was going to go home. I knew everything was going to be all right."
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