Neenah Police release statement urging patience

Neenah Chief of Police Kevin Wilkinson released a statement in a video early Thursday morning urging the public to be patient with their investigation into a deadly standoff in Neenah. Chief of Police Kevin Wilkinson - City of Neenah, Wisconsin Police Department | Facebook

In the video, he shares how the department is advocating, “full release of all video statements and other evidence in this case as soon as practical.”

“Our citizens have a right to know what happened,” said Chief Wilkinson. “ At the same time we have to be careful to not infringe on the investigation. It’s not uncommon for groups or individuals to attempt to manipulate news media to create a biased and even false misrepresentation of an incident. That’s why the Department of Justice recently issued a statement with limited information. They wanted to counter false claims.”

Brian Flatoff--the suspect that police say held an unknown number of people hostage in a Neenah motorcycle shop at gunpoint-- made his first court appearance in Winnebago County Wednesday, where his bond has been set at a half-million dollars.

Witnesses are still being interviewed, and 200 pages of documents and reports are still being examined by the Deputy D.A., Scott Ceman.

Those reports and reviews are coming from every police agency involved, making up only part of the workload ahead for the D.A.'s office.

Here is a full transcript of the statement--

“The city of Neenah experienced a significant and difficult incident on Saturday, December 5. Initiated by a person with criminal, even homicidal intent. Now one person is dead and others are physically and emotionally injured.

It is our duty in these cases to provide accurate information that is not tainted by personal agenda and to do that quickly.

Our citizens have a right to know what happened.

At the same time we have to be careful to not infringe on the investigation.

It’s not uncommon for groups or individuals to attempt to manipulate news media to create a biased and even false misrepresentation of an incident. That’s why the Department of Justice recently issued a statement with limited information. They wanted to counter false claims.

Make no mistake; the Neenah Police Department wants a thorough, unbiased investigation into this incident.

We’re advocating for full release of all video statements and other evidence in this case as soon as practical. The DOJ does a great job of posting their investigative reports on their website for all citizens to review. We encourage people to read those reports.

The duty now for both the police and the public is to be patient. A proper investigation takes time. And while we wait for truth we must not be swayed by those who fraudulently claim to have it. Thank you.”