Armed man closes down lake-area road

For the second time in just over a week, the presence of a weapon caused authorities to seal off a section of road near the Iowa Great Lakes.

At 5:31 p.m. Sunday, the Dickinson County Sheriff's Office was dispatched after a report of a suicidal male with a handgun in the area of 180th Street near Prairie Lake. The small lake is northeast of Arnolds Park and on the east side of East Lake Okoboji.

Dickinson County Deputies and members of the Multi-Agency Response Team (MART)established a perimeter in the area. The armed man was located about 2 hours and 15 minutes after the initial call came in.

Officers recovered a semi-automatic handgun after locating the man. He was taken to Lakes Regional Hospital for evaluation.

Police departments from Spirit Lake, Okoboji, Arnolds Park, and Milford assisted Dickinson County deputies. Members of the Iowa State Patrol, Department of Natural Resources, Milford Rescue and Lakes Regional Ambulance also assisted MART members.

The incident came about a week after members of the Spencer Police Department and deputies with the Clay County Sheriff's Office were among numerous agencies to respond to shots fired along Iowa Highway 86, also in Dickinson County.

Two vehicles had stopped there and occupants were reporting their vehicle windows were shot while traveling southbound.

Investigating officers determined that two 13-year-old boys had fired air rifles at passing vehicles. Portions of Highway 86 were closed down for about five hours.