NEWS

Lancaster police restrain armed man without violence

Spencer Remoquillo
Reporter

LANCASTER – Two Lancaster police officers avoided what could have been a deadly situation while dealing with a potentially suicidal man Sunday afternoon.

Training kicked in for Lancaster officers Nate Brumley and Brady McCarthy when they went into a home along Capital Court at 3:30 p.m. and disarmed a man, who allegedly made threats on the phone to his mother living out of state about wanting “death by cop,” according to police reports.

The man’s mother said her son made suicidal threats and started destroying his home when she refused to send him more money on Sunday.

Police arrived and said they saw the 26-year-old man reach for what appeared to be a handgun under his thigh. One of the officers grabbed the gun and detained the man as he said he was “done” and wanted to die, the report said. Officers later learned the gun was a .77-caliber Smith and Wesson BB gun and that he also had a folding knife in his pocket.

“I think that the officers assigned to this run showed great patience, restraint and skill,” Lancaster police Chief Dave Bailey said Monday. “They are to be commended for preventing (what) could have been a tragedy.”

The 26-year-old was taken to Fairfield Medical Center on an emergency admission. It was the man’s mother who called 911, saying her son became upset when she refused to send him more money.

Based on the review of daily reports, responding to homes with a suicidal individual is a common call to the Lancaster Police Department. Bailey said those types of calls can pose problems for officers.

“Situations like this are unpredictable and can change very rapidly,” Bailey said. “Often, the distraught individual is under the influence of drugs, alcohol, which complicates the matter. Also, family members and friends may want to help, but they can inadvertently escalate the situation. When incidents of this type occur in public, they can be very difficult to contain and onlookers can become an issue.”

To handle such calls and deal with people who are mentally ill, Bailey said, many Lancaster police officers complete a 40-hour Crisis Intervention Team training course to learn how to de-escalate a situation

“Apart from their formal training, officers tend to learn through experience how to effectively deal with people in crisis,” Bailey said. “Our goal is to keep the officers, the mentally ill individual, and the public safe. We then try to place the mentally ill individual into a hospital setting, if possible.”

sroush@lancastereaglegazette.com

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Twitter: @SpencerRoushLEG