After a brief standoff on Sunday afternoon, the Southampton Town Police took a man into custody who had been making suicidal threats at a residence in Water Mill. According to police, the East Hampton Village Police first received a call saying a man fell out of a second story window of the home. Around the same time this call was taken, the Southampton Town Police received a similar tip from a family member. The relative told police the man was in an alcohol induced rage. He was allegedly smashing windows and threatening to kill himself. Police were also warned by the family member that the man was an avid hunter and owned several rifles, shotguns and archery bows. A cadre of police officers were notified to report to the Water Mill residence and an ambulance was put on stand-by.
When the first arriving officers appeared on the scene, the man, 34, was said to be violently swinging a baseball bat inside the house and was threatening suicide. The officers said the man was highly intoxicated. They later learned that he had a history of emotional problems but wasn’t taking his prescribed medications. Police officers then surrounded the residence and requested support from the town’s Crisis/Hostage Negotiators and the Emergency Services Unit.
Once officers with the special unit arrived at the residence, they initiated a conversation with the man. Police say a brief stand-off ensued where the man continued to make suicidal threats and told the negotiators he had no intention of settling the incident in a peaceful manner. According to police, the man said he wanted the officers to kill him.
While the negotiators attempted to calm down the man, members of the unit secretly entered the home and subdued the man after a brief struggle. Police say the man suffered minor injuries from the incident and was transported to Southampton Hospital for treatment of his injuries. The man was then transferred to the psychiatric unit for a mental health evaluation.
Police maintain that they are withholding the man’s address and name to protect his identity. They did reveal, however, that an investigation of the man’s residence showed that he owned three shotguns and two rifles. These weapons weren’t loaded. Police added that the original call to East Hampton Village Police, reporting that the man had fallen out of the window, was a misinterpretation of events. The man had actually smashed the windows with the baseball bat and was throwing objects out of them.
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