WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A quiet Monday morning in West Bloomfield Township descended into chaos as a man, wearing a tactical vest and brandishing a gun, attempted to kick in the door to his neighbor’s home.
It all started on the 7400 block of Coach Lane around 9:30 a.m., with a 911 call.
A woman called, saying her husband was in the midst of a mental health breakdown and had grown erratic and violent.
“Her husband was having a, some sort of a mental health breakdown episode, and that he had put on a ballistic vest and a firearm,” West Bloomfield Deputy police Chief Scott Mong said. “He was in a manic state and had gone across the street to the neighbor’s house and had shot rounds into their home.”
A doorbell camera caught the entire horrifying incident as the man attempted to storm the home, where four people, including a 2-year-old, were inside.
“As he is coming across the street to the neighbor’s home, he points the handgun up in the air and fires one round up into the air,” Mong said. “He continues across the street to the front door. At which point he kicks the front door and, fortunately, was not able to gain entry.”
The unidentified man eventually broke out a window and fired three shots, but thankfully, no one was hurt.
The man eventually needed to be tased by police before being taken in. Police conducted a search of his house and confiscated a multitude of weapons.
The man is awaiting charges from the Oakland County prosecutor’s office.
The incident highlights the perils of mental illness, but it is not as common as people think.
“I think it’s really important to know that the vast majority of individuals with mental illness are not inherently violent,” Trisha Zizumbo, COO of the Oakland County Health Network, said, noting only three to 5% of incidents escalate to violence.
“We have amazing partnerships with our law enforcement,” Zizumbo said. “Not just through CIT and co-responders, but also our critical incident stress management and our behavioural threat assessment and management collaborations that we have.”
While it’s currently unknown what led to this man’s mental breakdown, Zizumbo says no matter what, there are resources to help others.
“If you see someone who is acting erratically, is maybe acting differently, you want to encourage them to get help, to reach out for help,” Zizumbo said. “There’s no shame in asking for help. There are places you can turn, there are individuals who have gone through what you have gone through.”
If you need mental health support, call or text 988, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
You may also call Oakland Community Health Network’s non-emergency access line at 248-464-6363.
More information is also available online at www.oaklandchn.org.