Authorities in West Burlington have recovered the body of the man who got into a day-long standoff with police before setting fire to his home.
Michael Kartel, age 62, lived at 414 East Pennington Street. His body was taken to the state medical office in Ankeny. Police said it will be a few weeks before autopsy results are released.
Police said they were called at 2:28 a.m. Monday to check on someone regarding an assault and were led to the Pennington Street house.
Police said Kartel brandished a firearm so they backed off and set up a perimeter. They said several times during the day he fired shots in the home and at other times he shot at them through the home’s windows.
Police said he also started and put out fires several times during the day. At around 4:30 p.m. he started a fire that grew larger. 20 minutes later firefighters took action to put out the fire and it was extinguished after about 50 minutes.
Kartel’s body was found in the home.
No first responders were injured. Officers from five law enforcement agencies were involved in the standoff and five fire departments were also on the scene, as was the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is handling the investigation.
