Barricaded Subject in a Three-Decker
At 6:40 p.m. dispatch sends you to a 12-unit three-decker for a 911 hang-up. A woman outside says her 34-year-old son, who has schizophrenia, locked himself in a third-floor bedroom with a shotgun and fired one round into the ceiling. There are no hostages. The mother and sister are on the sidewalk; the son texts his sister: 'I am not going back to the hospital.' A school with an after-school program for 150 children is 300 feet away. Two officers are at the front door; a crowd is gathering; a caller tells dispatch the son 'has a list.' You are the first lieutenant on scene. The department has a regional tactical team 35 minutes away and a crisis negotiator on call. The fire department is staging two engines. Your chief is at a selectboard meeting and unreachable for 20 minutes.
1. What do you do in the first 15 minutes as incident commander?
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Assume command loudly and establish a command post outside the line of fire. Confirm the 911 nature, the shot, and the subject's location. Set an inner perimeter at the building and an outer perimeter at the street; evacuate the immediate exposures and the adjacent units. Ask the school to shelter in place, not evacuate into the street, and notify the superintendent. Designate a contact team and a cover team, but do not force entry without a plan. Request the regional tactical team, negotiator, EMS, and fire; establish unified command with fire. Assign an intelligence officer to gather family information: medical history, weapons, prior police contacts, and the meaning of 'a list.' Start a log and a media staging area. Keep the mother and sister away from the door but use a trained family liaison. Brief arriving officers on the rules of engagement: no one enters without command approval, and no one fires unless there is an imminent threat. This buys time and prevents a chaotic entry.
2. When, if ever, do you authorize entry or use force, and how does G.L. c. 123, § 12 affect the decision?
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G.L. c. 123, § 12 permits a police officer to take a person to a facility for emergency evaluation if there is reasonable belief that the person is mentally ill and poses a likelihood of serious harm to self or others. It does not authorize a forced entry into a home without a warrant or exigent circumstances. Here, the fired shot and the text 'I am not going back to the hospital' may support an exigency if the subject is a danger, but the presence of a firearm and a barricade makes a tactical entry high-risk. The preferred path is negotiation: isolate, contain, and communicate. Authorize entry only if the tactical commander and negotiator agree that the subject is an immediate threat, or if a warrant is obtained. Less-lethal options should be planned, not improvised. If the subject surrenders, take him into custody for evaluation under § 12 and secure the shotgun. If he does not, continue containment and request a warrant if needed. The decision must be documented with the facts known at the time, not hindsight.
3. How do you manage the school, media, and family while the incident is ongoing?
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Call the school superintendent directly: the school should shelter in place with blinds closed and no outdoor release, and the principal should account for all 150 children. Do not order a full evacuation into the incident scene. Send a marked unit to the school's rear access. For media, establish a staging area two blocks away and designate only the incident commander or PIO to speak. Release only confirmed facts: a police operation, road closures, and no known injuries. Do not repeat the 'list' rumor. Assign a family liaison to the mother and sister; get contact information and a description of the son's usual de-escalation cues. Keep the family out of the tactical channel. Notify the chief by text with a concise situation report: what, where, actions, resources, and next update time. After the incident, hold a hot wash with fire, EMS, school, and tactical; document decisions and identify gaps in the school notification and regional team response.