Uniforned police and members of the Special Services Unit stormed a Black Rock, St Michael home yesterday to subdue a man they suspected to be suicidal.
Police public relations officer Inspector David Welch said that about 1:30 p.m. police responded to a report that a 30-year-old male from Black Rock, St Michael, was acting strangely, having lit a candle and turned on the gas in the house.
Welch said that police officers found that the man was uncooperative and additional assistance had to be called in from police patrols and members of the Special Services Unit. The Barbados Fire Service (BFS) was also called in.
“A decision was made to storm the house after a note was thrown through a door and from the note we believe that he may have been suicidal,” Welch said.
The house was owned by 73-year-old Velda Archer, the man’s grandmother, who was chased out of the house.
Scores of onlookers gathered at the scene and among them was Kerri Barrow who said that before the incident took place, the man came to her with a domestic issue and she tried to intervene.
“After I found out what the real issue was I tried to coach him and tell him we could get through this. After I saw that there was nothing that I could do, I called Black Rock Police Station and let them know what was going on. The response was that there was no patrol car,” she said.
The man’s mother, who did not want to be identified by name, said: “He is my son and it is sad that it has come to this. It hurts to see what happened. I am going to try as his mother to do what I have to do for him. As a mother it breaks my heart.” (AH)