“It feels like I’m in between a nightmare and a dream,” she said. “It’s like I’m in limbo.”
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Nearly a week after a standoff with Glendale police, the widow of Karl Komorowski spoke with 12News about her husband and what happened that day.
On Wednesday, Sept. 4, Glendale Police were called to their home near 56th Avenue and Thunderbird after neighbors and family believed Komorowski had violated an order of protection and was inside the home.
“When I don’t answer for long periods of time, whether they call or text, and not just my neighbors but my family and the few close friends I have, they know something is wrong,” she said. “And that’s what happened on Wednesday. I opened the door, it was our neighbor who’d called me and he was asking if I was OK if Karl was there. I was scared the entire time.”
Things weren’t OK. At one point, she said Komorowski told her to go outside to try and smooth things over. So she grabbed her 6-year-old daughter and left the house. By then, neighbors and family had called the police and authorities had already arrived.
“And then the next thing I know there’s a slew of cop cars, SUVs, I see SWAT in my neighbor’s backyard with weapons pointed at our house,” she said. “The negotiator tried for two to three hours and he wasn’t complying.”
RELATED: A man barricaded himself inside a Glendale home after ignoring a protective order. He was later shot and killed by police.
Komorowski barricaded himself inside and fired at officers. At one point, authorities said he exited the home firing a rifle at police and that’s when officers shot and killed him.
The two had been married for seven years and had known each other for nine years.
“In the beginning, he was super fun and funny,” she said. “Always making me laugh.”
However, his behavior, she said, got more volatile. In July, he was arrested on three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. He was never charged because the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office sent the case back to Glendale Police for further investigation.
RELATED: Glendale man shot, killed by police was recently arrested on 3 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor
Between that and other actions, Karl’s widow filed that protection order.
“It’s all in the sake of the protection of myself and him making threats of violence,” she said. “And keeping our daughter safe per the material and also the physical violence and mental. All of it has torn me up because he’s not the person I married. He tried to get help, we tried to get him help. We tried many different outlets to get help, I was with him every step of the way, I supported him.”
Now as she finds the strength to move forward, she’s still in disbelief about what happened and is focused on trying to stay strong. Not just for her, but for her daughter as well.
Friends have created a GoFundMe to help with the damage to their home during the standoff. If you’d like to help you can click here.
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