RIVERSIDE: Distraught man claiming to have gun safely detained after surgical center standoff

RIVERSIDE — Officials successfully apprehended a distraught man who locked himself inside a surgical center bathroom and threatened to shoot officers, Tuesday evening, Dec. 12. The tense situation forced the evacuation of Riverside Community Hospital’s DeAnza Surgery Center, on the 4400 block of Magnolia Avenue, in Riverside.

Several officers responded to the surgical center about 6 p.m., after receiving reports of a man who claimed he was armed with a gun approached security officers at the facility and said a gunman was chasing him.

Before security officers could get information from the man he reportedly fled into the building. Once inside the surgical center, the man managed to elude the security officers and he disappeared somewhere inside the building.

Security personnel told responding officers there were two employees still inside the building and their safety and exact whereabouts had not been confirmed.

Officers immediately entered the building and began searching for the two employees and the allegedly armed man. During their search, officers located the man hiding inside a locked bathroom.

Officers also located the employees inside the surgical center and officers evacuated them and the remaining security personnel from the building.

While officers attempted to speak with the man, whose identity has not been released, he reportedly told them he was armed with a firearm and would shoot any officers who attempted to open the bathroom door.

Based on the circumstances, officers summoned the department’s Emergency Negotiations Team to the location to assist with negotiating with the disturbed man.

Through their communications, negotiators managed to convince the man to exit the bathroom and surrender to officers, at which time officers safely detained the man.

During a subsequent investigation, officers determined the man had not been in possession of a firearm; however, he was taken to an area hospital for a mental health evaluation.

There were no injuries reported during the incident.

 

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Trevor Montgomery, who recently moved from Riverside County to Shasta County, runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.