By John Branton, The Columbian (Vancouver, Wash.)
A terminally ill Washougal man was taken to a hospital Friday after he allegedly threatened to kill himself, pointed a rifle out his window and held a SWAT team at bay for two hours.
No shots were fired and no one was injured.
About 8:50 a.m., said Washougal police Sgt. Kim Yamashita, the man’s wife fled their home at the Bethea Park Apartments in the 4300 block of Addy Street and called 911. She told dispatchers her husband, 48, had a rifle and had threatened to commit suicide.
The man, who had been receiving hospice care in his home, was distraught about his terminal heart problems, police said.
“When our units arrived, he had a rifle out the window,” Yamashita said.
Police called for the Southwest Washington Regional SWAT Team.
As heavily armed officers surrounded the area, two set up a large black bullet-proof shield in the street and lay behind it, said neighbor Tim Walker, 21.
“I was kind of worried something might happen,” Walker said. “I had three kids in my house and it was kind of close.”
Police blocked Addy Street, Addy Loop and 45th Street.
With no phone in the apartment, officers used a loudspeaker and spoke to the man through a window, Yamashita said. After two hours, officers used a manager’s key to enter the apartment and took him into custody.
Yamashita declined to identify the man. He was taken by ambulance to Southwest Washington Medical Center for treatment of chest pains and for a psychological evaluation.
Police have no plans to arrest the man or file criminal charges against him, Yamashita said.