PHOTOS: Fond du Lac County SWAT incident lasts 10 hours

At 2:48am on Friday, August 1, 2025, the Fond du Lac County Communication Center received a call from a residential address near the intersection of Townline Road and Waterway Drive in the Town of Fond du Lac. The residents reported they were awoken by and alerted to motion outside their home by their home security system. Upon review of surveillance footage, occupants saw a suspect spray an accelerant on the exterior of the home and light it on fire. After lighting the fire, the suspect fled on foot. Sheriff’s deputies along with the Town of Fond du Lac Fire Department were immediately dispatched to the scene.

Deputies soon arrived and made contact with the victims. They found the fire had self-extinguished. Deputies quickly identified a suspect who lived in a nearby home and set up a secure perimeter around that residence. Attempts were made by patrol deputies to contact the suspect, however the suspect refused to cooperate. Instead, the suspect barricaded himself in his basement and refused to surrender. Because of this, the sheriff’s office SWAT team, crisis negotiators, drone team, and K9 teams were deployed in an effort to mitigate the situation. Nearby residents were asked to shelter in place and the residents of one nearby home were evacuated.

Over the course of the next seven hours, SWAT tactical members both inside and around the home gave the suspect repeated commands to surrender. Crisis negotiators off site simultaneously attempted contact and further negotiations with the suspect to peacefully surrender. Less lethal gas and irritant agents were deployed within the home in an attempt to prompt a voluntary surrender. After opening a communication port into the side of the home by the use of an armored vehicle ram, the suspect finally surrendered at 1:07pm.

The suspect, a 32-year-old male, was taken into custody and will be transported and booked into the Fond du Lac County jail on numerous felony charges related to the investigation. No one was injured in the incident. Further details will become available when a criminal complaint is filed in Fond du Lac County Circuit Court.

The sheriff’s office was assisted at the scene by the Fond du Lac Police Department, Town of Fond du Lac Fire Department, North Fond du Lac EMS, Fond du Lac Fire/Rescue, and Alliant Energy.