One Killed as Pair Take Over Restaurant

Two men burst into a Denny’s restaurant just before lunchtime Monday and opened fire, killing one person, wounding at least four others and taking up to 25 hostages. They surrendered after a six-hour standoff.

The gunmen released the hostages in groups of four or five throughout the afternoon. One of them was a 5-year-old boy who had been shot in the face.

The boy underwent three hours of surgery and was listed in critical condition, said a spokesman for Community Hospital North.

Two other men were being treated for gunshot wounds at Methodist Hospital.

The dead man was identified as Alfred Smith, 71.

Police said said the siege began with a botched robbery. Doan tried to wrestle a gun away from one of the men and was shot. After that, the other man “went crazy” and started shooting wildly, said Sgt. Frank Evans, the chief hostage negotiator.

Police sealed off the restaurant and surrounded it with SWAT teams and helicopters.

Police identified the suspects as Thomas E. Mathisen, 24, and his brother Ron, 27. The brothers from Casper, Wyo., apparently picked the city and restaurant at random.

They face a variety of charges, including murder, attempted murder and attempted robbery.

One man had a .357-caliber pistol and the other had a weapon resembling an Israeli-made Uzi, a police spokesman said.