Mutual aid response teams from across northern Michigan surrounded a home on Roe Road west of F-41 In Caledonia Township, where a resident hid in his basement, texting with 911 dispatchers and afraid the gunman had entered his house.

While local officers held a perimeter to protect the public, Alcona County Sheriff Scott Stephenson, along with a deputy and a Michigan State Police trooper, entered the home, not knowing where the gunman was, and helped the victim to safety.

Mutual aid officers, called in to find the gunman when Stephenson confirmed the man was not in the house, eventually located the man in his driveway, dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police identified the deceased man as Andrew Knapp, 31.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Samantha LeBlanc, dispatcher with the Alcona County Sheriff’s Office, sits at monitors in the county’s dispatch center as Jeff Brackett, county 911 director, explains how dispatchers communicate with people in danger via text. Alcona County Sheriff Scott Stephenson, left rear, and Undersheriff Keith Myers listen.

Officers remained on the scene until after midnight.

Entering the house unsure where a gunman might lurk was frightening, but, Stephenson said, it’s what police are trained to do.

“There’s not a decision,” he said. “You have to go save the victim.”

Hunter Clark was working at a computer in his home Tuesday afternoon when he heard gunshots and looked outside to see Knapp in the road between their houses, smoke coming from the barrel of the shotgun in his hands, Clark said on Wednesday.

According to Clark, Knapp went into his house but returned shortly thereafter, reloading his gun. Clark ran into the basement.

“A couple shots flew past my head,” Clark said outside his home, standing near an exterior window and wall pocked with holes. “It was nonstop for a few minutes, with bullets going through.”

Clark knew Knapp but had limited interactions with him and had not quarreled with him, he said.

Hearing noises above as he waited in the basement, Clark told a 911 dispatcher the gunman might have entered the house and switched to text communication with the dispatcher to make less noise.

Meanwhile, police raced to Roe Road, where the gunman was no longer visible. Not sure where he had gone, Alcona County and Michigan State Police officers blocked roads and secured a perimeter around Clark’s house, Stephenson said.

Three officers entered the home through a back door, calling to anyone inside to declare themselves.

In the past, police were trained to wait for special units to arrive before entering a dangerous situation, Stephenson said. A 1999 school shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado changed that, and now, “we don’t wait. We go,” he said.

Searching the house without finding the shooter, officers hustled Clark out of the house and down the street. Stephenson requested the Northern Michigan Mutual Aid Emergency Response Team, made up of officers from sheriffs’ offices and other police agencies, to help find and stop the missing gunman.

About 30 to 40 officers met at a staging area some distance from the house, planning the safest way to approach Knapp’s home, where they surmised he had retreated with his weapon.

Before they approached the home, a police drone captured an image of what appeared to be Knapp, dead, in the driveway of his home.

Police couldn’t confirm the man was the shooter, so officers cleared Knapp’s house and garage to make sure the danger to the public had been removed.

Stephenson credited the county’s emergency center dispatchers with being the calm in the center of the storm as they connected officers, printed maps, called in medical support, relayed messages, and texted with the victim.

At the same time police were searching for the shooter, dispatchers also handled unrelated calls reporting CPR in progress and a hunter lost in the woods.

“It was jamming in here,” said Jeff Brackett, county 911 director, part of the team handling business in the dispatch center on Tuesday.

Police suspect mental illness as the root of Knapp’s actions, Stephenson said. Police had interacted with him in the past and noticed unusual behavior, but nothing that would have made them anticipate a violent action, the sheriff said.

On Wednesday, Clark said the pellets flying through his home had rattled him, but he didn’t expect such a large-scale response from police.

An armed man shooting randomly is no light matter, Stephenson said.

“This was dangerous,” he said. “This was a big deal. I just hope I don’t have too many more of these in my career.”

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.