What to do...

CAforkedhorn · Oct 12, 2019

So I have an acquaintance from my childhood that sent me a Facebook message early yesterday morning. Now this dude was always a little weird growing up and I figured he was autistic but that was before autism was cool so I don't know. Anyway, his message asks me if my dad left him anything when he died? I was like WTF??

My response was, "Umm...my dad is still alive and what is it that you think he would have left you?"

Him, "It would be like a trust or some kind of legal banking account. I'm not sure if this is all in my head or if there really is something so that's why I'm asking."

Me, "Bro, listen... my dad hasn't seen you in probably 30 years when you were like 12 or 13. He would not have left you anything had he passed away but again, he is still alive. Have you been to a doctor lately? I really think you should be evaluated."

Him, "I wasn't sure but I think you're right I will go see my doctor soon."

So I call my sister to tell her about this conversation and she tells me he's been messaging her talking about a high school friend of ours that supposedly killed himself in high school. That dude didn't kill himself I know because he works for me but this whacko insists that he is dead.

Why am I concerned? Because this dude has serious firearms and is infatuated with them, constantly posting pictures of himself with them but nothing threatening so far. He lives in Phoenix so I am out of harms way lol, but if he went full batshit and became the next mass shooter I would regret not having said anything.

So what do I do? Do I contact Phoenix PD and report him? I'm not at all a fan of taking firearms in most cases but when there's obvious mental health issues I think we have to at least look into it. What would you do?

RELH · Oct 12, 2019

Report him to the P.D. where he lives. They can make contact with him to do a mental health evaluation to determine if he is a danger to himself or others. That is if the state code has a law similar to one we have in CA.,5150 Welfare & institute code, where after the eval. and the officer feels he is a danger to himself or others. A officer is required to take the person into custody and transport him to mental health for a 72 hour hold for a full mental health evaluation.

He brought it on himself by the weird contact he made to you and your sister that strongly indicates he is not a sane person.

RELH

eelgrass · Oct 13, 2019

Give him Pelosi's address and tell him she stole his trust money.

JUST KIDDING!

Do like RELH said.

Homer · Oct 13, 2019

....another good reason to NOT facebook....

Ropinfool · Oct 14, 2019

if he hasn't broken any laws or made any threats then why would you report him? at most, call his family if he has any. the liberal agenda is working by creating paranoia. pretty soon, everyone will be reporting everyone.

CAforkedhorn · Oct 14, 2019

See that's the problem. I haven't been influenced by anything liberal in this. It's just stupidity to think that a person with OBVIOUS mental issues should have MANY weapons.

Would you let your granny with dementia drive her car? What's the ******** difference dipshit? He has no family in Phoenix, he's not married probably because he's batshit crazy and I have no idea about his work/friend relationships.

So using your logic we should wait until he breaks a law (which could be murder) before we report him? Should we wait until your granny drives through the children at the bus stop before we take her keys? No wonder the left has gained so much ground on the gun debate because fools like you won't even budge to common sense. You're the guy in the NRA hat screaming for these mentally ill people to keep their guns and the left loves you.

I'm not saying that Phoenix PD should bust down his door and confiscate his guns but like RELH said, a welfare check is in order. There is documented proof that something is out of whack with this guy. I haven't spoken to him in 30 years and all of a sudden he messages me some crazy shyt about my dad, text messages my sister with delusional memories from high school, etc. and you think this is paranoia?

He agreed with me that he needs to see his doctor so even he is aware that something is wrong with him. If this was a person that occasionally posted a picture of himself out shooting guns with friends then I wouldn't worry too much. This guy constantly posts pictures of his guns by himself, acting more as if they're his friends than anyone. It's an infatuation that really isn't normal and actually as of today I noticed that he has deactivated his FB account so who knows what is going through his head at this point but hey... he's got guns so...

RELH · Oct 14, 2019

Following ropinfool's advice is what happen in several mass shootings that resulted in more demands for gun control. Those persons that failed to say anything had strong regrets later for staying silent.
I am a very strong supporter of the 2nd. amendment, but guns do not belong in the hands of the mentally ill or criminals. It's called using just good old common sense.

RELH

Ropinfool · Oct 15, 2019

you sound like an angry violent person, and you have guns. we should report you.

manny53 · Oct 15, 2019

i'd red flag him; when you said phoenix is that oregon ?

CAforkedhorn · Oct 15, 2019

So I stewed on this until Monday afternoon when I called Phoenix PD. The problem was that I could only give them his name as I didn't have any more info on him. I had no idea where he lived, or worked (assuming he had a job) but I anonymously gave them the details that I had in hopes they could find him to do a welfare check.

Unfortunately my sister got word today that he shot himself in the head this morning. I'm kind of a little mad at myself for waiting to report him as maybe police could have got to him before he took his life. Is it my responsibility? I don't know but I feel like this whole scenario is a major part of the gun debate.

People like ropinfool want people like this left alone with their guns. Suppose he had shot up a school before taking his own life. He apparently had nothing to lose and could have gone out like any of the other mass shooters but thankfully he didn't. Regardless, in his state of mind he should not have had access to his guns. That is common sense and it's ridiculous that people on the same side of the pro gun debate seem to be lacking in it.

eelgrass · Oct 15, 2019

CAforkedhorn, wow! Your instincts were correct. Let that be a lesson to all of us. I'm just glad he didn't take anyone with him.

CAforkedhorn · Oct 15, 2019

Exactly Eel, I had a feeling that this was more than just a case of drunk texting but I still hesitated because I'm not the person that wants to take away people's guns just because they got upset at something or maybe had a brain fart.

Sadly, my thought process at first aligned more with Ropinfool on not being "that guy" but when my common sense finally kicked my ass it was too late. I'm going to be bummed for a few days knowing I could have acted sooner but at the end of the day this guy really gave no indication he was a threat to himself or others. My instinct was that he no doubt had mental issues and A LOT of guns which often times leads to someone dying.

People can judge me all they want for calling the PD. I am my biggest critic and I failed to act soon enough. I won't make that mistake again if this scenario were to ever present itself again.

Homer · Oct 15, 2019

LAST EDITED ON Oct-15-19 AT 06:47PM (MST)[p]DO NOT feel guilty about anything....good riddance...he did the right thing.

he obviously knew he was f'ed up and solved the problem for everyone....

RELH · Oct 15, 2019

Do not kick yourself for delaying the call, you did not have a crystal ball to foresee the future. The odds were even if a officer got to him in time, he would have probably lied to the officer to convince him he was not a danger to anyone including himself.

I had a case where a 14 year old girl was taken in by a officer to mental health for fear she was suicidal. She convinced a trained mental health professional that she was not suicidal and they released her after just 48 hours.

About 4 hours after her release, I was dispatched to an address in town and had to cut her body down after she hung herself from a rafter in the garage. If they are really serious about killing themselves, they will say anything to avoid being stopped from acting out their plans to die.

Another good example of this is that rich friend of Bill Clinton that killed himself in jail after convincing them to take him off the suicide watch they had him on.

Just be glad that the guy did not take his anger out on the world and take a bunch of people with him to go out in a blaze of glory.

RELH

Comules · Oct 15, 2019

>CAforkedhorn, wow! Your instincts were correct.
>Let that be a lesson
>to all of us. I'm
>just glad he didn't take
>anyone with him.

Yes that would be a very sad day for all!
You just never know in this day and age.
And our Federal and State governments don't seem to want to try and fix
the problem. ( Gun Control will fix it they say ) BS

Captain_coues · Oct 15, 2019

That's the problem we have. Suicidal is one thing, but Homicidal is another. It has to be a very small percentage of people that would actually kill another person because they're off balance. I've had nightmares about just pointing a gun a someone, so it's hard for me to imagine Murder. If we ever figure out what would make someone cross that line, our gun problem is solved.

Homer · Oct 16, 2019

We don't have a gun problem....

eelgrass · Oct 16, 2019

Along with the sacred right to own a gun comes a tremendous responsibility. The misuse of that right needs to be taken more seriously for starters. How many times a day do we hear "armed robbery" or "felon in possession of a gun"? That should be one of the biggest no-no's of a free society. Gun ownership is not a game. The consensus now is to blame the gun since we just can't seem to figure that out. No wonder people are confused.

A little bit off topic but.....

Stonefly · Oct 16, 2019

CA, I wouldnt give it a second thought. You were the victom when he talked to you. He was in the wrong when he takled to you, He was in the wrong when he communicated with your sister. He did us all a favor by ridding the world of somone who woyld only continue to create problems. Remember this, he may of had mental issues, but if your harmed by this person, be it wacky accusatuins or phisical harm it dosent matter to the victom, its harm. I dont really give a rip if folks dont like my opinion, and my opinion is good ridance. Probably the first thing he did right in a while

Ropinfool · Oct 17, 2019

"You were the victom when he talked to you"

?????? the only victim here was him

RELH · Oct 17, 2019

Ropinfool you screwed the pooch in thread #4 with your advice, might be best you remain silent.

RELH

264mag · Oct 17, 2019

If he had a doctor maybe he was at his last resort for medication , being a guinea pig .

Ropinfool · Oct 17, 2019

he did call, and didn't help. guess it was the guns fault. too bad he took his own life but we can't control others actions. maybe some things aren't preventable.

264mag · Oct 17, 2019

Welcome to planet earth

CAforkedhorn · Oct 18, 2019

Ropinfool said,

"he did call, and didn't help. guess it was the guns fault. too bad he took his own life but we can't control others actions. maybe some things aren't preventable."

What a dumbass. I literally called like 12 hours prior to him killing himself with very limited information. Had I called the day he messaged me, there might have been enough time for them to figure out where he was. Nobody ever said anything about it being the gun's fault and yes some things aren't preventable but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

Using your thought process, suicide prevention hotline workers should just tell the suicidal person where the best bullet placement is for the quickest result. You really believe the intent of the 2A is to protect mentally ill people's right to possess guns? God you're stupid.