BB gun-wielding Hemet man safely detained, hospitalized for evaluation

HEMET — A Hemet resident was safely detained and later hospitalized for a mental health evaluation after the man’s mother called 911 to report her son was acting erratically at the family’s residence and was possibly armed with a handgun.

The woman’s call for help this morning, Saturday, April 20, brought officers from around the city, who eventually located the man at a Hemet gas station. The weapon was later determined to be a realistic-looking BB gun.

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At around 10:30 a.m., City of Hemet police officers were dispatched to a home in the 600 block of Vista De Loma, southeast of Stetson Ave. and Buena Vista St., after receiving the mother’s 911 call.

The woman told emergency dispatchers her son had left the residence and was armed with what appeared to be a black .357 revolver. She also told dispatchers she could not tell if the handgun was real and that she had left her home out of fear and gone to another location several blocks away.

A short time later, while officers were searching the area for the man or his black Nissan Titan pickup truck, emergency dispatchers received another call, this time from the man officers were looking for. The subject, who has not been publicly identified, told dispatchers he was at a Chevron gas station at the intersection of State St. and Stetson Ave.

Based on the circumstances, numerous officers converged on the gas station and officials quickly located and detained the subject, who was parked at a set of pumps at the station.

Officers determined the weapon the man had in his possession was a BB gun and the man was later transported to an area hospital for a mental health evaluation.

No citizens or officers were injured during the incident.

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Trevor Montgomery, 47, moved last year to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle, and Anza Valley Outlook; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta 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. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s 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.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 15 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.