DICKINSON -- Law enforcement's standoff with fugitive Jeremy Mellmer ended early Thursday when Mellmer suffered a "suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound," according to a Dickinson Police Department report.
A standoff with Mellmer started about 10:35 p.m. Wednesday outside of a house on the 900 block of Ninth Street East after receiving a tip from an owner of a vacant home on the street. Mellmer had fled custody Monday night while being detained in connection to a string of burglaries involving guns.
The standoff ended sometime between midnight and 12:30 a.m. Thursday as Southwest Tactical Team members entered house and found Mellmer in the basement in possession of a firearm having allegedly shot himself.
Mellmer, 31, was taken to CHI St. Joseph's Health in Dickinson and is in custody. His medical condition was unknown Thursday.
Mellmer had been considered armed and dangerous since escaping custody during a traffic stop.
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Area authorities had searched small towns in southwest North Dakota where Mellmer has known family and associates this week, Dickinson Police Detective Sgt. Kylan Klauzer said Wednesday. Police also used electronic billboard alerts as far away as Bismarck in an effort to help find Mellmer.
Three of Mellmer's accomplices-Brittany Bruntmyer, James Gannon and Jimmy Monday, all of Dickinson-have been charged in Southwest District Court in connection to the burglaries and are being held at the Southwest Multi County Correctional Center.
