Fundraisers created for homeowner

By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

“Bill, this is the police. Come out the front door with your hands up. Leave the dog inside.”

Residents on Charlotte Street in the village of Baldwinsville heard this refrain on repeat for almost 24 hours over the weekend of Oct. 13 and 14 as William Lamson, 50, holed up in his ex-girlfriend’s home behind the First United Methodist Church, threatening to shoot himself and any law enforcement officer who entered the house.

Fortunately, it never came to that. Lamson emerged from the house around 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14, after officers shot tear gas into the house and a SWAT vehicle rammed the front porch. (See sidebar for details on his charges.)

While the dust has settled and Charlotte Street is no longer a parking lot for police cars, tactical trailers and armored vehicles, neighbors are still trying to process the event.

Donna and Vickie Freyleue live about half a block down Charlotte Street from the home where the standoff took place. They could hear shouting, sirens and, eventually, tear gas canisters exploding. The two women took photos and videos, which they shared on Facebook to keep friends and family updated about the situation.

“I’m having a little bit of PTSD,” Vickie Freyleue said, adding that loud noises have been especially startling to her after the standoff.

“Our friends and family suggested that we keep an eye on this and watch our symptoms because it can be delayed,” Donna Freyleue said.

Donna Freyleue said it was eye-opening and unnerving to see the amount of military-grade equipment used by the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team and the Syracuse Police Department’s Emergency Response Team.

“It was really striking. We’d never see anything like it in our lives,” she said.

One surreal moment, the Freyleues said, was when the bells of the Methodist Church began to chime its regular hymns.

“It was the strangest incongruity to see these men suiting up with their weapons and vehicles … and this hymn is playing,” Donna Freyleue said. “It was a very, very jarring juxtaposition.”

The Freyleues have been in contact with some of their neighbors about the experience.

“I felt like we need to probably get together and debrief,” Vickie Freyleue said.

The Rev. Bill Mudge, pastor of the FUMC, felt the same way. The church invited community members to stay after the Sunday morning service Oct. 21 to discuss the standoff and its aftermath.

“We just invited the neighbors to come in and talk about what they experienced, and thought we’d give them a place to express their worries, their thanksgiving, whatever they need. We didn’t want people to not have an outlet for those emotions,” Mudge said. “A lot of times if you force stuff like that down inside, it’s not helping.”

“It’s a little unsettling,” said Mayor Dick Clarke. “As one of my neighbors said, ‘This stuff’s not supposed to happen in our little town.’”

It takes a village

Mayor Clarke does not live in that area of the village, but his sister, Cindy Clarke, lives on West Genesee Street, across from the Methodist Church. She was in contact with the Freyleues and other neighbors during the standoff, and she fielded her own flurry of messages and calls from concerned loved ones.

“If we wanted to know what was going on we asked each other,” Cindy Clarke said. “These people were each other’s lifelines. We relied on each other, which was nice.”

Mayor Clarke said the tight-knit community of Baldwinsville often comes together in trying times.

“I’ve lived here most of my life and have always felt that when somebody’s in trouble in Baldwinsville or even when something good is happening that people come forward to help and recognize [others],” he said.

“It’s not an uncommon thing to see that, and it’s one of the things that makes Baldwinsville a great place to come to and live,” said Baldwinsville Police Chief Mike Lefancheck.

He said he contacted Mudge around 5:15 or 5:30 a.m. that Sunday to let him know that the church had to cancel its services.

“When I explained to Rev. Mudge over there the situation, he understood,” Lefancheck said.

Church officials were more than understanding: The trustees of the Upper New York Conference of the United Methodist Church opened the church and provided coffee and doughnuts for the first responders. They offered the church as a space for officers to rest throughout the standoff and to debrief for an hour to an hour and a half after the arrest.

“It was really the trustees in the United Methodist that carried the weight of this. They were very on-the-spot,” Mudge said. “They were great, showed great hospitality and it’s an honor to serve the community in any way we can. That’s not how we expected to [do it], hope not to do it again.”

Seamless response

Lefancheck said the community has been supportive of the law enforcement response to the situation, and he commended the agencies that responded to the standoff, which, besides the Baldwinsville PD, included the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Police, Syracuse Police Department and the Greater Baldwinsville Ambulance Corps.

“I can’t say enough about the level of communication between the sheriff and myself, and the state police, Syracuse Police Department and the ambulance corps. They worked under incredibly difficult conditions and remained professional throughout the entire event,” he said, adding that the operation was “pretty seamless.”

Mayor Clarke said he approved of the way the BPD and the other law enforcement agencies handled the situation, which began when B’ville police tried to serve Lamson with a warrant for his arrest following a domestic complaint.

“As soon as there was any talk of violence on the part of the man who ended up in the standoff, then we quickly brought in the big guns,” Mayor Clarke said. “Nobody was out there to be a hero. You didn’t want to create a shootout in the middle of the neighborhood. They all walked away and went home to their families and ultimately that’s a success.”

Cindy Clarke said she was “thoroughly impressed” with law enforcement.

The only time she felt afraid, Clarke said, was when she heard the tear gas canisters burst around 2:15 a.m., thinking they were gunshots at first.

“We all applauded law enforcement,” Donna Freyleue said. “We felt very, very well protected.”

What’s next?

While they were happy that the standoff ended peacefully, the Freyleues and Clarke said the incident has sparked conversation about what Baldwinsville can do to prepare for future emergencies.

Clarke said her neighbors were almost denied entry to their home, which contained vital medication for their son, but they convinced officers to let them retrieve it.

Clarke suggested the village designate a liaison to direct traffic, point people to temporary shelter and coordinate other resources during an emergency.

“What’s the likelihood of this happening again? Well, it happened, so it could happen again,” Clarke said. “We don’t get too many tornadoes or hurricanes but we prepare for those just in case.”

The Freyleues said they discussed neighborhoods developing emergency plans with Clarke. Emergencies are not just limited to situations like the armed standoff, they said.

“It could be anything,” Vickie Freyleue said. “It could be a storm, it could be an accident on the river that prevents people from getting into their houses.”

While residents leaned on each other during the standoff and cheered on the officers involved, there’s one more person B’ville is looking to lift up.

In the wake of the standoff, Babs Donaldson’s home stands ruined. The windows and doors are boarded up, part of the porch is crushed and tear gas permeates everything inside. Baldwinsville Code Enforcement Officer Gregg Humphrey declared the home uninhabitable.

“Tear gas leaves an oily residue that gets into everything,” Donna Freyleue said.

Donaldson’s son and daughter-in-law, Jon and Erin Roberts, have started a GoFundMe to help her (and her dog, Brutus) get back on her feet. To donate, visit gofundme.com/starting-over-babs-donaldson.

A benefit for Donaldson has been tentatively scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17, at the Red Mill Inn.

“The community will pull together. We’ll get her straightened out — I’m confident of that,” Cindy Clarke said. “Out of everything bad comes something good.”

Sarah Hall contributed to the reporting for this story.