CHICAGO -- A slain woman's relatives were upset Friday by the way police handled a 23-hour Thanksgiving Day standoff in her apartment building that ended with a gunman killing the 22-year-old and himself.

Negotiators had tried for hours to coax Lance Johnson, 21, to release his hostage and end the standoff, said First Deputy Superintendent Dana Starks. But SWAT team members ended up rushing the third-floor apartment after the sound of a gunshot around 1 a.m. on Friday, he said.

"We have protocols and procedures we had been following," Starks said without elaborating. "At no time did the Chicago Police Department fire a weapon."

Frustrated relatives and neighbors said police should have done more to end the standoff. A group of about 10 people angrily questioned police who arrived at the apartment on Friday afternoon.

"I think police could have gotten more control of the situation and could have gotten there before," said Donzell McKinzie, 23, whose sister Tasha Cooks was killed. "We've just been crying all day."

Police said Cooks and Johnson were the only people in the apartment but have not said whether they knew each other. Family members said they were neighbors.

Police Superintendent Phil Cline had said police sent up cigarettes and soft drinks to the gunman as they negotiated with him by phone.

"We're angry," said India Cooks, 30, the woman's cousin. "They (police) talked to him," she said. "He (Johnson) assured us he wouldn't kill her. He said, 'All I want is a cigarette and some soda pop.' He said, 'I'm not going to hurt her."'

During the standoff, Cooks, a nursing home worker, was able to call family members. She told them she was being beaten by her captor, her brother said.

"That was the last time I heard ... her, and she said she didn't want to talk anymore," McKinzie said.

The standoff took place inside a three-story brick apartment building in the South Shore neighborhood, which sits along Lake Michigan.

James Milton, 35, has lived in neighborhood for 18 years and knew Cooks.

"She was a nice, quiet little girl. She didn't really bother anyone. She was someone everyone knew," Milton said.