RICHMOND — A police standoff involving a suicidal man with a firearm who had barricaded himself in his Hatch Street home ended peacefully Friday afternoon after he agreed to come out and was taken to the hospital, authorities said.
Hatch Street was closed during the roughly 4 1/2 hours the incident took place, and Richmond schools had students “shelter in place” for part of Friday morning until they were informed by police that the situation was contained.
A tweet from school officials informed parents at around 10:50 a.m. they were notified of a serious incident occurring in Richmond, though there was no direct threat to the school so, “out of an abundance of caution, the Richmond Schools were instructed to Shelter in Place,” the text stated. It described sheltering in place as movement being allowed within the school but restricting access to the building.
Richmond police Chief James Donnell said police were called to the Hatch Street mobile home park by a relative of a man who, the relative said, had made suicidal statements and had a firearm.
Police responded but the man barricaded himself in his home. The mobile homes adjacent to the man’s home were evacuated.
Following more than four hours of negotiations that involved a crisis negotiator from Maine State Police, the man, whom police did not identify, agreed to come out and was taken to the hospital.
Donnell said the man has not been arrested or charged, but it had not yet been determined whether he would be charged with any crime, such as creating a police standoff.
Donnell said the man didn’t threaten anyone other than himself.
Officials from Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office, as well as fire and rescue staff from Richmond and Gardiner departments, responded to the incident with Richmond police.
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