Dodge Center community reacts to standoff

(ABC 6 News) – A 65-year-old man was taken into custody Monday with no injures following a domestic incident in Dodge Center.

It started at 11:30 Monday morning when the Dodge County Sheriff’s office responded to a domestic incident.

RELATED: UPDATE: One in custody following domestic situation in Dodge Center

A woman told a deputy that she and two other family members were trying to get John Lentz to go to Saint Marys hospital to be evaluated. He has a history of mental illness.

Lentz then assaulted his roommate and threatened to shoot police if they tried to intervene.

The people in the home escaped and crisis negotiators took over.

Dozens of neighboring homes were evacuated. Triton Public Schools was also placed on a lockdown. Eventually, Lenz turned himself in to authorities.

And the Dodge Center community is wondering how something like this could happen where they live. People tell ABC 6 News it was at Casey’s where people gathered, trying to figure out what happened.

ABC 6 NEWS spoke to a woman in her 90s. She lives close to where the standoff took place.

She said police came by earlier to evacuate her and she then spent the day trying to figure out what was going on.

Another person we spoke to are teachers in Byron. They tell us when they saw the alert, they were worried about their home. But at the end of the day, they’re thankful law enforcement kept the situation peaceful.

Kystal Netcott works at McNeilus steel and lives a block away from where the standoff occurred. When she got the alert, she was wondering how she was going to get home. She tells me she was worried about her child at Triton Public Schools.

"I’m really not surprised. Wow, life’s crazy. The world is crazy these days. I wish he got help before he went that far,” Netcott said.

Another person ABC 6 News talked to says his family lives steps away from where the standoff took place.

He tells us when he got the alert, he had to send some of his staff home so they could go get their kids from Triton.

“You feel the insecurity of neighbors having those kinds of weapons. It’s pretty scary, just be careful,” Christin Idorgo said.

ABC 6 News did reach the family of the man in custody for comment — however, they tell us — it’s a personal matter.

As for Lentz — he is in custody and was transported to Saint Marys hospital for an evaluation.

He is expected to face charges in court.