WEIU interns Chris Obarski and Zach Groves went to work like they had everyday of the summer. They thought it was going to be a slow day working in the sports department.

They could not have been any more wrong.

Obarski and Groves were the first broadcast journalists on scene to cover the Arcola hostage standoff last Thursday when William B. Thompson and Yusef Kareem Brown, were arrested after a high-speed chase and standoff at the First Mid-Illinois Bank & Trust branch in Arcola and allegedly shooting Douglas deputy Tom Martin in the face and torso.

The two WEIU interns said they were on scene around 11 a.m., 10 to 15 minutes before any other news stations had arrived.

But they both said it did not stay that way for long. They described the scene as constantly changing with many law enforcement agencies and media surrounding the event.

“By the time we got there, the perimeter had already been made and it was pretty far away,” Obarski said.

But they insisted it did not discourage them as Groves said they were able to become creative with their camera shots.

They said they were treated with respect while covering the story by the other media outlets.

“We were able to ask two questions at the press conference,” Orbaski said. He continued to say that usually most news stations were only able to ask one question.

But they liked the competition they were facing.

“You have to be ready,” Groves said. “Those guys are like machine guns with questions.”

At around 11:30 a.m., a second crew was sent to help out. Andrew Wilder, sports anchor/producer and summer trainer for interns, was one of the people sent to Arcola in the second vehicle.

Wilder said the second crew helped out significantly.

“We split the crew,” Wilder said. “We had one crew covering the north-east side and one covering the south-west side. We were able to get the story from two angles.”

Throughout the standoff, the danger of the situation had entered their minds, but they said they did not let it get to them.

“It was kind of a weird feeling…because we were so far back,” Obarski said.

Groves said he felt similar.

“Not really, I had too much of a rush,” Groves said. “There is so much uncertainty everyday with this job. Our job is to get out there, get it shot and get the story first, most importantly.”

Wilder said he was not scared, but said he had a moment of realizing the seriousness of the situation.

“On a scale of how important this was, I was on my cell phone and all of the sudden I hear this loud sound,” Wilder said. “There is a U.S. helicopter and I watch it come down and land 20 feet in front of me. I said, ‘I think I’m going to have to call you back.’ I think, this is a serious situation.”

They all agreed that this was nothing they expected to cover while working at WEIU and an experience that will both that will help them and never forget.

“I had never covered anything to the magnitude of this,” Wilder said. “This is the most intense thing we’ve ever covered.”

Obarksi and Groves said this experience will help them in their future because they said employers will be looking for this sort of experience. A chance to cover something that does not happen everyday.

“Some people work for years without ever getting a chance to cover something like this,” Groves said.

Groves and Obarksi also said they think this will help the image of WEIU and may possibly help them recruit more members for future semesters.