A Lancaster County sheriff's deputy exchanged gunfire with a man who had barricaded himself inside his southeast Lincoln house on Friday, killing the man in an eviction case turned deadly.
The deputy kicked in the door of the house at 5901 English Park Court at about 2:30 p.m. after he and a pair of locksmiths spent half an hour trying to get in. The door had been blocked from inside, said a witness.
John Firestine of Husker Lock and Key said he was behind the deputy when he heard the him yell, "Doug, put your gun down!" Then the man opened fire toward the doorway.
"The bullets whizzed right past me," Firestine said.
The deputy returned fire. Rescue workers took the man to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Firestine, the deputy and the other locksmith were unharmed.Â
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The sheriff's office did not release the deputy's name or the name of the man killed, but court documents show the sheriff's office had been ordered to remove 64-year-old Douglas DaMoude and his belongings from the home. The deputy was there serving a writ of restitution on Friday, said Lincoln Police Chief Jim Peschong.
Peschong, whose office is investigating the death, said the man had been evicted recently but had returned and was living there again.
After the shooting, Lincoln police and Lancaster County sheriff's cruisers blocked off the entrance to the court until late into the night. The court is located just southwest of 56th Street and Old Cheney Road. Yellow tape surrounded the home, and a white sheet blocked the stoop.
DaMoude, who bought the house in 1998, was issued a three-day notice on Dec. 9 to vacate the home after it was sold in a foreclosure sale to Papillion-based Homebuyer's Incorporated, or HBI, according to court documents. Later that month, HBI filed a complaint for forcible entry in Lancaster County Court.
DaMoude had made several attempts to appeal the foreclosure or have it dismissed, but was denied.
