My thanks to Irregulars SK and AN for forwarding this.
Mike
III
Police act swiftly after gun purchases
ODOT worker who'd been put on leave is mentally evaluated after buying handguns, AK-47
March 09, 2010
By Anita Burke
Mail Tribune
Concerns about an Oregon Department of Transportation employee who purchased several guns after being placed on leave prompted law enforcement across Southern Oregon to step in.
Negotiators and a SWAT team from Medford police safely took a man — whose name wasn't released — into protective custody Monday morning in the 500 block of Effie Street, Medford police said in a news release.
He was taken to Rogue Valley Medical Center for a mental-health evaluation.
The man recently had been placed on administrative leave from his job and was "very disgruntled," the news release said.
ODOT Communications Director Patrick Cooney said there were administrative, personnel matters involved that limited what the department could discuss.
However, the state agency had reported concerns about the man to law enforcement agencies, who started monitoring him, officials said.
"We had concerning information regarding a personnel issue and were watching the subject," Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters said.
In two days, the man bought a Heckler & Koch .45-caliber universal self-loading handgun, a Walther .380-caliber handgun and an AK-47 assault rifle, Medford police Lt. Bob Hansen said. All of those firearms were purchased legally, with required record checks by the Oregon State Police.
Authorities were "extremely concerned" that the man may have been planning to retaliate against his employers, the news release said.
"Instead of being reactive, we took a proactive approach," OSP Sgt. Jeff Proulx said.
Douglas and Jackson County sheriff's departments, OSP officers based in both counties and police in Medford and Roseburg collaborated, he said.
Medford police watched the man's home overnight, starting at about 9 p.m. Sunday, Hansen said.
Because he was known to have weapons, police wanted to defuse the situation and ensure the man wasn't a danger to himself or others before the neighborhood awakened and people started their daily activities, Hansen said.
Medford's hostage negotiators and SWAT team were called in at 3 a.m. Monday and arrived on the scene at about 5:45 a.m., he said.
About a dozen officers responded. They closed the street for about an hour and evacuated three homes to protect neighbors and prevent bystanders from gathering, he said.
After a phone conversation with negotiators, the man — who was alone in the home — agreed to come out, Hansen said.
Police seized the recently purchased firearms, as well as another .45-caliber Heckler & Koch handgun and a 12-gauge shotgun. Police are holding the weapons for safekeeping, but no criminal charges have been filed.
13 comments:
Lines, if not being crossed, are being encroached upon.
Do they think we are so stupid as to allow this? I hope that GOA or someone has set up a defense team for this guy and is preparing to rip these "Douglas and Jackson County sheriff's departments, OSP officers based in both counties and police in Medford and Roseburg" a collective new one.
Also it doesn't even mention that they had a warrant at all, just that they watched him all night (unwarranted?), cordoned off his neighborhood (unwarranted?) and 'talked him out' (unwarranted?) and took him into "protective custody" (this is where he decided to forgo his rights I guess?).
All I say to Law Enforcement is that I, like this man, am not always happy about work. I, like this man, own firearms. I, unlike this man, will not come out of my house because you call me on the phone and ask me to.
Molon Labe.
Just another day in the Worker's Paradise of the USSSA...
Well, I can't say I'm surprised. I mean EVERYONE knows that you ain't in uniform and you have a gun, you MUST be up to no good.
Sounds like be behaved himself pretty well, so that should at least work to his favor when getting his weapons back.
WTF Chuck..
In this economy anyone being out of work could be described as "very disgruntle".
Unhappy; dissatisfied; frustrated
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/disgruntled
Anyone who is "happy, Satisfied, or not frustrated at the prosepct of being out of work" needs there head examined.
So did the guy make threats to harm anyone? Most likely not or they would have filed charges.
Budget cuts getting that bad they have to illegaly seize weapons form the citizens? You know he will not get the weapons back. they will have him declared mentally defective and bar him from owning the weapons. the state will file for a civil forfiture, and some agency will get some nice new firearms
Thanks for posting. If this man had resisted and was killed for simply owning firearms and being labeled as suspicious, I'd say that would be a trigger event, at least on a state or local level.
That was close; it's only a matter of time.
I do believe that this man if there is no funny business during his "evaluation" will not have to worry about working again because he will have one hell of a good lawsuit going against the departments that are involved. GOA, NRA and even ACLU should get involved as they did violate his Constitutional rights.
Either way this is something that needs to be challenged and put down because if it is not then we will set a president that will continue......Scott
Sorry, they would have had to come in and get me. At a great cost I assure you. And how would they explain that away on the evening news...gee that 5th amendment is so inconvenient. I hope he sues for damages.
He might have made a shrewd financial move.
1. Get laid off.
2. Buy firearms.
3. Get detained, have your property seized and otherwise have your rights trampled.
4. Sue the pants off state and local agencies.
5. Live or even retire off the proceeds.
"Instead of being reactive, we took a proactive approach," OSP Sgt. Jeff Proulx said.
What's the moral difference between the above statement and the one below?
"Instead of being reactive to a potential U.S. police state, we took proactive action by killing cops now."
Kindly note that I have no plans or intentions to kill cops now. Heaven forbid. Doing such a thing would be terrible.
Be kind a funny if his name had been Phil Gordon or he lived on Sipsey Street.
What gets me about this is.....
A man can be denied gun ownership if he is declared mentally defective, or, in some interpretations, even has an exam "for cause".
Here, we have a case where somebody gets a bug in their ass and says, "This guy MIGHT be a bad guy. Let's get him checked out." Poor guy now has an exam on his "record", and may lose his rights to gun ownership based on somebody else's concerns.
What ya wanna say that he is being used to set a precedent?
bozo #1
"We'll set it up that anyone that fits our PROFILE is automatically declared unfit, for public safety's sake, and outlaw an entire class of owners. Our victory - their problem."
bozo #2
"I like it. Make it so."
bozo #3
"Done deal. Oh, by the way, Jack, did you know your son just got laid off?"
All your thoughts are belong to us.
Us people that sometimes actually shoot guns call the Heckler & Koch ".45-caliber universal self-loading handgun" the Universally Sewer-Worthy Pistol, as the ergos suck and they wouldn't be even good on a spree in a gun-free zone, but I talk out of my *ss, and the *sses of many when I say that. Why won't they hire me to be BATFoo??? :-(
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