ST. GEORGE – Police responded to a call concerning a man with a gun at Kidd’s Carpet and Flooring around 4 p.m. Monday.
The man was reported to have put the gun in to his mouth at one point and is potentially suicidal. He is currently the only person in the building.
Detective Johnny Heppler said it was reported that the man was suicidal and officers took precautions for everyone’s safety. He said once they made contact with the man and determined that he was safe, officers left the area. Heppler said officers spoke with the man and determined that he wasn’t going to “do anything rash.”
“We determined that there was no threat to anyone in the area,” he said. “We determined that he was not a danger to himself. He committed no crime. At that point, our involvement becomes unnecessary.”
Local resident Dave Amodt was leaving DT Technologies when he saw officers huddled near his vehicle with their guns drawn.
“I thought ‘holy crap!’ Guns drawn and I walked right into it,” he said.
Amodt said he left without asking the officers what they were looking for.
Kidd’s Carpet and Flooring is located near Costco in St. George.
Copyright 2011 St. George News. This material may not be published or rewritten without written consent
And lemme guess, they had about 6 cops, 3 of them with assault rifles, one with a riot shield, and closed the parking lot off. That’s happened at my apartment complex multiple times, one time a man had a knife and threatened his girlfriend. So naturally, about 5 cops were there, two with assault rifles pointed to the door, and one with a riot shield, and they all went in to get the man. Mind you, this is all while the whole apartment complex is standing outside watching it all happen. What were to happen if a shootout took place? This is what happens when you have way too many police officers in a town of our size.
I would rather have “way too many police officers” and not need them, than need them and NOT have them. As a former LEO, they are traind to overwhelm the adversary. Good job SGPD.