His parents said he just needed to sleep. A SWAT team came instead.

[mfcorey1]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/his-parents-said-he-just-needed-to-sleep-a-swat-team-came-instead/ar-BBEsOJB?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout


HINGHAM — As police cars rolled into his pristine suburban neighborhood last Saturday night, past the sprawling Colonials and manicured lawns, and as dozens of officers from across the region surrounded his home, Russell Reeves begged them again and again to back off.

In a bedroom upstairs his son Austin, 26, was distraught over a breakup. He had told his family he needed time alone. With him was his dog and his 9 mm handgun. If you pressure him, if he feels cornered, Reeves said he told the police, this will end with Austin killing himself.

The police listened and nodded and took notes in their notebooks, according to Reeves. And yet, more officers kept coming. Some wore camouflage and carried rifles. They set up bright lights to shine onto the house and drove a military-style vehicle into the backyard. Eventually, they broke seven upstairs windows so a mounted camera could look inside for Austin.

“Please,” the frightened father says he asked them, “why can’t you just let him go to sleep?”

The standoff in the quiet cul-de-sac went on for hours. By early Sunday morning, it was over, the rows of police vehicles departing all at once like a flock of birds startled into flight.

Left behind, with the muddy tire ruts and broken glass, were countless questions — some of them unanswered, and some unanswerable. Reeling as the sun rose higher in the summer sky, Austin’s parents tried to understand how a simple police check on their son’s well-being had become an all-night siege.

One question, they knew, would haunt them forever: If their pleas had been heard, if police had tempered their response, would Austin still be alive?

‘Don’t back me into a corner’

Austin Reeves gave no sign earlier that evening of any troubles weighing on him.

He worked at a party, as he often did, parking cars to make some extra money. The event, in Hull, was a 75th birthday celebration held outdoors under a tent, and Austin helped to make sure it went smoothly, said the man he worked for. He greeted guests warmly as they arrived, and made sure they had drinks. He even stepped out briefly on the dance floor with one older lady guest who asked him to, after getting a nod of approval from his boss.

“He was totally himself,” said Jon Mongeau, a designer who ran the event, and a friend of the Reeves family, whom Austin had worked for off and on since he was a teenager. “He was charming and funny and outgoing. He could talk to anyone, and everyone always enjoyed him.”

Before he left the party, around 9 p.m., Austin kissed the hostess goodbye and wished her a happy birthday, Mongeau said. He had made plans to go out for drinks with a friend working the event with him, and he headed home to change his clothes.

But sometime before he got there, Austin spoke by phone with his former girlfriend. He became alarmingly upset, according to his parents, and mentioned a gun. Concerned about his state of mind, the woman called police at 9:19 p.m., asking them to check on his welfare.

Minutes later, a Hingham police officer called Russell Reeves at home to ask if Austin had a gun with him. Reeves checked his own guns and found them locked up as always. Before he had a chance to look for the handgun his son owned, Austin walked into the house.

The young man became visibly upset when his father told him the police had called. “You’re not in trouble,” his father recalls saying. “Please sit down and we’ll talk about it.” Austin refused. As he headed upstairs, he angrily issued a warning.

“Don’t back me into a corner,” his father remembers Austin saying. “Because I’ll make it go away in four seconds.”

To Russell Reeves, the meaning was clear — Austin would hurt himself if he wasn’t left in peace. Stunned and afraid, Reeves dialed the Hingham police just after 10 p.m. to ask for help.

In the hall upstairs, Austin’s mother spoke to him through his locked bedroom door. “Whatever’s happening,” Kate Harrison says she called to her son, “I love you, and we can work it out.”

Austin told her he needed to be alone.

By the time she got downstairs, two police officers were outside the house.

A turning point.

[Egnever]

1. Here's an idea

Don't buy your kids guns... I would say don't buy guns period but clearly people can't handle that.

Can't really fault the swat team here they were trying to protect the rest of the Neighborhood from your unhinged teenager you chose to arm.

[tammywammy]

2. He was 26, not a teenager. n/t

[cvoogt]

3. 'kid' was not threatening anyone but himself ..

Obviously it would have been better had he not had a gun in the first place. But how do we know he didn't buy the gun for himself? Article does not say parents bought it for him. And a SWAT team response for this situation is totally over the top.

[CozyMystery]

5. He was a 26 year old man.

He was suicidal, not homicidal. He was in his bedroom, not roaming the neighborhood.

[WePurrsevere]

8. He was a distraught 26 yr old man, not a "kid" or a "teenager", in his own home and...

no where did it say his parents bought him the gun.

According to his parents he didn't sound like he had a history of any previous issues of mental illness so he would have been legally able to obtain a 9 mms handgun for himself at some point.

My FIL was a cop and one of my dearest friends was a trooper. I was taught to respect police from the time I was tiny and admire those who do a very difficult job in a way that honors their oath. That said, although I get the fears and stresses that law enforcement is now under, after reading the whole article, IMO this was an overreaction and his parents words should have been listened to and taken much more into consideration. If they had been, the cops should have backed off a bit and their son may still be alive.

[lunasun]

9. The family had other guns , so maybe it was a gun culture home, but they may have not bought

his own gun. Sounds like the call was about him harming himself .

[Bradical79]

11. Or you could actually read the article -nt

[Lindsay]

4. This is what a Police State looks like.

Overwhelming force, no matter what the situation.

[RKP5637]

6. Sadly that's where we are and many still don't get it. n/t

[SaschaHM]

7. This sounds like the most haphazard response to a mental health episode ever.

On a somewhat tangential note, a semi-formal event at my college at a rented out local club was once raided by the local police in full swat gear in response to reports of underage drinking.

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. This kind of police response is common for Mental health calls.

The Republicans are cutting Medicaid, which pays for state's Mental Health services, and wanting mentally ill people to have access to guns.
So there will be more of this, which I think is the whole point.

[hunter]

12. I ALWAYS think twice before I call the police about anything.

And usually I don't.

Especially for things like teens being teens (graffiti on my back wall, etc.), or mentally ill people acting in ways not especially dangerous to anyone but themselves.

I do think this story reflects poorly on our authoritarian gun culture.

[milestogo]

13. Big mistake to ask the police for help in a mental health situation.

Most of them aren't trained to handle it, and you don't know what kind of officers are going to show up and what they will do.