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.
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...09/NEWS/3090315

 

WTF I guess the Oregon people are getting as Libral as Calf and Washington State and he allready had guns so he realy didn't need to buy more if he wanted to take them on and he was placed on leave not fired yet.

 

My issues is since when does getting mad at work, being suspended and going out & purchasing a firearm or 3 makes you a criminal??

What justification does the law have to place somebody on a 72 hour mental health hold, take away all his constitutional rights and have him in a psych hospital just cuz he purchased a firearm or two.

It's not about need or why he did it, but why is it illegal for him and if it happens to him will/can it happen to you or I?

What is to keep our employer from giving us a sub par review, getting us mad cuz it's not justified in oour opnion.

We leae work and go home, have a gun or two in the house & then the cops show up and take you to a psych ward cuz your mad at your employer and have access to guns...

Talk about thought police arresting you and locking you up for 72 hours without just cause.

Unless there is more to this story the guy needs to lawyer up and sue the living hell out of his employer, the law dogs and the hospital. He's got a superb case here for kidnapping, false imprisonment and if they force psychotropic meds on him cuz he's all kinds of supper uber pissed off now (I know I'd be livid)

Then he has a Dr that is anti gun.....

How about who is going to pay his medical bills....

And what about the simple fact that he's now on record with the law dogs as crazy even if the Dr/court send him home in 72 hours.....

 

I don't have much of a problem that they're watching for that kind of thing or following up on tips.

I have absolutely no idea how their first response after receiving a couple tips involves a SWAT team and an FBI negotiator. That's screams Ruby-Ridge-overkill right there.

 

You don't have a problem that he did nothing illegal, nothing at all illegal & yet has been locked up for a minimum of 72 hours, away from family, friends, ****...blow jobs and could have psychotropic meds forced on him due to his being pissed off and madder than a red hen...

You get pissed off at work, go out and get a 12 pack of beer, bottle of vodka and some **** mags....

End up under lock and key in a mental hospital for possibly being a drunk rapist....

 

The police received a tip from the employer that they fired an employee and he was disgruntled.

I assume that the police knew about the gun purchases due to gunstore paperwork? Or did they get that information from another tip?

Regardless, police following up on a tip and making sure a man isn't deranged is what they should do. If they receive a tip that he had a kidnapped child living in his backyard for 20 years, had a giant hydroponic marijuana operation in his house or was running a car-theft ring, I would expect the cops follow up on that stuff too.

What makes the story irregular is that the cops apparently performed initial investigation with a SWAT team and a FBI negotiator, and took him to jail after the fact. That definitely sounds like a gross over-reaction.

The way they followed up the tip on first glance seems entirely misappropriate. I would suspect that there was some sort of a threat or a few more tips between the first tip and the arrest, but the story doesn't say so. Who knows what they found when they started talking to the guy either; maybe as soon as he answered the phone he was raving about being the anti-Christ and taking all of the virgins in the city to his toilet chamber on the moon. Without knowing all of the evidence the police were acting on, it's difficult to say what's an overreaction or not.

 

1, he was NOT fired, but placed on leave.....How did the cops find out, it's a private matter...

2, it's NOT illegal top be pissed off at work, or towards HR or others at you job

3, It's NOT illegal for him to buy guns....

4, He PASSED the background check....

5, he did NOTHING illegal

Yet he has had his constitutional rights revoked, is locked up in a mental hospital for being pissed off at his employer and then buying a couple guns....

Why is it so hard to see how wrong this is.....

 

On the surface, it looks wrong as hell.

That said, it is NOT illegal for cops to follow up on a tip, it is NOT illegal for cops to respond to a tip based on how they see fit, and it is NOT illegal for them to put an individual in a mental hospital for a psych evaluation.

I'm willing to bet that the cops were acting on more than a tip, a hunch and an irrational fear of firearms. If not, then what they did was wrong.

 

Do you know/have any idea what is required to remove somebody's constitutional rights and place then against their will in a mental hospital...

Have you ever been in a psych ward.

Do you realize some of your postings on this forum could be interpreted by a cop or dr to get YOU committed to a mental health hospital for a 72 hour psych eval as a sexual predator....

 

I think this is a lesson for all out there: Buy your guns before you're disgruntled.