The firetrucks, police cars, unmarked vehicles and ambulances crammed into a few blocks of the Airport Village mobile home park over the weekend were gone Monday morning. The sizable force from agencies across the state had dwindled to a few State Bureau of Criminal Investigation and drug task force agents.

Bystanders had folded up their lawn chairs and blankets and returned home. Police tape tied to mobile homes and fences to keep spectators out of harm's way was removed.

The only clues to an all-night standoff that started when Bismarck Police Sgt. Steve Lundin was shot through the right thigh while trying to execute a search warrant for methamphetamine and paraphernalia were found at and around a 127 Northwest Drive mobile home.

Surrounded in yellow police tape was the home where Brandon Keller, 19, and Michael Clarence Sherman, 27, both of Fargo, camped out for 14 hours. Several windows were broken, likely from tear gas canisters or bullets shot into or out of the mobile home. Several more bullet holes, marked by strips of blue tape, dotted the outside of the single-wide.

BCI and drug task force agents resumed their investigation of the mobile home early Monday after taking a break Sunday afternoon due to high temperatures and the lingering tear gas. They were asked to investigate because Bismarck's resources were stretched thin in dealing with the standoff.

While the investigators tried to gather clues about the shootout that started Saturday afternoon and ended Sunday morning with Sherman dead and Keller under arrest, Bismarck police gave an official account of the siege at a news conference.

Information from a narcotics informant early Saturday launched the search for Sherman and Keller. Another tip led to the Northwest Drive home and a search warrant that required police to knock on the door and announce themselves before entering. Police knew the suspects were armed.

Ten members of Bismarck's special incident unit executed the warrant, six going inside while four waited outside. They knocked, yelled "Bismarck P.D." and walked in to find Sherman's mother, Clarissa Sherman, 49, seated in the living room. Two officers secured Sherman, another went toward a front bedroom and three others walked to a back bedroom. After the second attempt to get into the back bedroom, the shooting began.

"It only lasted about 30 seconds but sounded pretty intense with them shooting out and us shooting in," Police Lt. Bob Haas said.

Under fire, the police entry team returned about five rounds into the back bedroom, Haas said. Lundin, who was closest to the door, said he heard the first shot come from inside the room and the next one passed through his thigh. He dropped to the floor and broke fingers as he hastily crawled out of the mobile home with bullets whizzing over his head. His team members, one of which had a bullet deflect off his bullet-proof chest piece, covered Lundin as he made his escape.

"The reason I'm alive today is these guys protected me and allowed me the time to get out of the trailer," Lundin said.

Clarissa Sherman was removed, Lundin was taken to St. Alexius Medical Center, backup was called and police began to secure the area.

Next-door neighbor Klein Schmidt was sitting on his deck when he heard the gunfire and noticed the commotion. His wife, Sarah Schmidt, was walking toward her flower garden that nearly abuts the southeast corner of the targeted mobile home.

"They were popping guns like mad," Sarah Schmidt said Monday afternoon.

The Schmidts were ordered into their mobile home immediately after the shots, and later told to evacuate. Officers offered to pay for their supper and a lodging, but they opted to stay with friends in Lincoln. Klein Schmidt told SWAT team members they could use his bathroom if they agreed to lock up afterward. The doors were locked when the Schmidts returned home Sunday morning.

"This drug stuff has been going on too long. Ever since they've been there," Klein Schmidt said. "I was expecting this but not this soon."

A standoff ensued with authorities securing the area, and Sherman, Keller and a 17-year-old girl barricading themselves inside the mobile home. Negotiators made contact by way of phone and blowhorn less than an hour later. Intermittent gunfire came from inside the mobile home as negotiations continued into Sunday. More than 40 people from law enforcement agencies arrived along with firefighters and paramedics.

The 17-year-old girl came out at around midnight, was handcuffed and ushered away by police. Authorities didn't know if she had voluntarily stayed for the last six hours or was being held hostage.

At about 3 a.m. the Bismarck special incident team acted after being fired upon. Numerous tear gas canister were shot through windows. One of the team members saw muzzle fire come from a suspect shooting through a window and returned three to four shots, Haas said.

A few-hour lull followed. The Minot bomb squad was contacted for use of a robot equipped with a camera. Bismarck police wanted to use the robot to see if there were any survivors without having to expose an officer, Haas said. The Fargo Red River Valley SWAT Team arrived at about 4 a.m. to relieve the tired Bismarck crew.

"We'd been investigating these guys for more than 48 hours and my guys were completely shot," Haas said. "I didn't want to expose them to another incident ."

The 12-person Fargo team entered the home at about 6 a.m. and encountered no resistance. Keller was in a hallway in the back and Sherman was found dead in the kitchen near the center of the mobile home. A 9-millimeter handgun was found inside. Police are still searching for other weapons.

Police are uncertain how Sherman died and are awaiting the results of an autopsy being conducted by the state medical examiner. Suicide has not been ruled out.

There was a party atmosphere among spectators at Airport Village on Saturday and Sunday until Keller was wheeled past on a stretcher and taken to a hospital by ambulance. Dozens of people spent the entire night watching and speculating.

Some watched peacefully from designated areas while others ignored the rules. Several residents of a home kitty-corner to the action milled around drinking beer despite being urged by officers to move. They were later escorted a safe distance away.

Others sat or stood along streets and in yards and some even took to rooftops. Beer and liquor were passed around as freely as soft drinks and snacks.

Law enforcement was called from the action numerous times to warn bystanders to move out of the line of gunfire and to stop men from urinating and pouring beer down the gas tanks of patrol cars.

A man on a motorcycle cut through a gap in the police tape and road past the targeted mobile home.

None of those watching were hit by gunfire.

After inspecting the SWAT gear following the standoff, authorities discovered an officer was hit by what appeared to be bullet fragments. He wasn't injured.

"After everybody got a little sleep and were able to reflect they're doing a lot better," Haas said.

(Reach reporter Mike Albrecht at 250-8261 or cops@ndonline.com.)