Suicidal gunman taken into protective custody after GH incident
Apr. 17—A suicidal man with a handgun was taken into protective custody following an incident early Saturday afternoon in the area of North Beacon Boulevard just south of Jackson Street.
Area businesses were ordered to close and employees and customers to shelter in place following a crash and the ensuing incident on the north side of Grand Haven.
Officers from the Grand Haven Department of Public Safety originally responded to a crash in the area at about 1 p.m. Police were informed that the drivers involved had pulled onto a service road near Starbucks.
When officers arrived, one of the drivers involved in the crash removed a pistol from the console of his pickup truck, according to Public Safety Director Jeff Hawke.
The 60-year-old Holland man refused to comply with police commands and held the gun to his head.
"He asked several times for police to shoot him," Hawke said.
Police immediately requested backup.
While establishing a perimeter, officers talked to the man and attempted to get him to drop the gun and surrender.
"At one point, he placed the gun on top of his pickup truck, but then walked back toward the firearm," Hawke said. "Officers deployed a Taser, which failed."
Officers then used "less-than-lethal baton rounds" to incapacitate the man and take him into custody.
He was transported to North Ottawa Community Hospital to receive treatment for an arm injury, and for psychological evaluation.
Hawke said the case would be reviewed by the Ottawa County Prosecutor's Office.
A shift supervisor at Starbucks said they received a call sometime after 1 p.m. and locked their doors.
An employee at a hair salon across the service road to the area said the employees all went into a back room after receiving the call.
Neither person would comment an anything they might have seen up to that point.
Spring Lake resident Jack Adams said he was in the right lane of northbound Beacon Boulevard, stopped in traffic when he saw a man standing by his pickup truck and police with guns nearby.
"There was a guy standing between his door and the inside of the truck. Police were telling him to get down on the ground — several times," Adams said. "He wasn't complying. Then I heard some dull shots and people were running from there like crazy."
Adams, a former sheriff's deputy and a local photographer, said he pulled around into a parking lot and saw the man now on the ground, with police restraining him with their feet.
When the man was being put in the ambulance he heard him say to police that they shot him 20 times.
Adams said police likely used blanks that he called beanbags, in an effort to subdue the man.
Although blanks were used, Hawke said, "The excellent work of our officers today prevented a shooting. This is yet another example of the unpredictable and potentially deadly situations police officers encounter all too frequently. Incidents involving armed suicidal persons are among the most dangerous faced by police officers.
"Officers must make split second decisions while trying to provide for the safety of nearby citizens, themselves, and the person involved."
Hawke said that this was the third armed suicidal person incident de-escalated by GHDPS officers in the past few months. The previous incidents involved knives.
"I'm grateful for their willingness to stand in the gap for the community and the courage and compassion they demonstrate in the face of extremely difficult and dangerous circumstances," Hawke said of the officers.
Ottawa County Sheriff's deputies, Michigan State Police and Ottawa County Central Dispatch 911 operators assisted Grand Haven Department of Public Safety officers.
"Dispatchers play a critical role in the safe resolution of high risk incidents and that was evident again today," Hawke said.
You may contact Becky Vargo at bvargo@grandhaventribune.com.
