PORT ANGELES — The late Wednesday afternoon standoff that shut down a city block for two hours began with a report of a possible suicide attempt but no action was determined to be needed, according to Port Angeles Police Chief Brian Smith.
Subsequent contact with a reporting party after the initial report confirmed the presence of a firearm, Smith wrote in a Thursday afternoon email.
“The word ‘standoff’ just describes a situation, a person reportedly in possession of a firearm and reportedly contemplating suicide who will not come out and talk with officers becomes a standoff (until we can develop enough facts show that we do not have a crime, an immediate threat to public safety or anything else that would keep us there).
“We do not have the legal authority to get a search warrant to enter a residence to seize a person,” Smith wrote.
Law enforcement was at the scene from about 4:15 p.m. to just before 7 p.m.
He also wrote that the person was not arrested nor detained under the Involuntary Treatment Act. That is a 2016 law that allows a Superior Court judge or commissioner to civilly commit someone to a hospital or treatment setting if the person is found to be a threat to themselves or others due to exhibited symptoms of mental illness.
Smith’s email stated police were not able to establish that a crime had been committed or that there was an immediate danger of suicide.
“Our detective unit is composed of trained crisis negotiators. Through their work (Wednesday) they were better able to establish what facts we did have, what facts we did not have and more information about the situation,” Smith said in the email.
“For example, we did not establish enough facts to meet the requirements to apply for a search warrant. The facts that we did obtain drove the decision to end our involvement in the incident,” the email said.
________
Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at brian.gawley@sound publishing.com.
