Medical Facility Put on Lockdown This Morning When 81-Year-Old Allegedly Threatened Them
This morning, an 81-year-old man, Kenneth Katsuyosji, was arrested after allegedly making criminal threats to a medical facility in the 2300 block of Buhne Street in Eureka. The facility placed themselves on lockdown.
According to one person writing on social media, patients were told to stay away from the windows and weren’t allow to leave the building. The patient wrote they were told that an elderly man, distraught over the weekend’s shootings, threatened to shoot up the facility.
“Around 9:45 a.m. we received a threats report,” explained Brittany Powell, spokesperson for the Eureka Police. “A patient trying to make an appointment ended up making some threats over the phone.”
EPD investigated and the elderly man was arrested.
No one answered when we attempted to call the medical facility.
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So they’re sending a “distraught”, possibly senile 81 year old to jail instead of St. Joe’s or Semper Virens? I wish I could say I expect better from EPD but they’re really hit or miss in these situations.
Isn’t that ridiculous? No common sense anymore. A psych evaluation by a gerontologist should be automatic. Unfortunately, this county has abysmal mental health care.
You understand that the jail has mental health clinicians on staff so they are equipped to handle crazy, yes? If no crazy people could be jailed then the jail would be empty.
Further, age exacerbates a mental disorder and bestows a “I don’t give a shit, death is imminent anyway” attitude which, IMO, makes an old crazy dude more of a threat than a young crazy dude.
Still, an arrest hardly seems like the best option. Is there no one in EPD with any kind of de-escalation training?
I generally want to threaten someone every single time i deal with medical establishment. Why do we think he’s crazy?
Hes probably a cranky oldster who’s effing tired of dealing with stoopid inefficient wonkasses.
There’s a surprising lack of detail in the “informational statement”
the jail is not equipped to handle the elderly infirm, nor is it a mental health facility. The jail staff is not trained to physically or psychologically manage old people. They’re trained to manage 20 and 30 year old tweakers.
No one is trained to “manage old people” in the way that is apparently demanded. But I have been in the waiting room in the sheriff’s office and watched them be concerned with getting help for an old person so they could release her safely. Drug users however take up so much resources there’s hardly anything left over for everyone else.
The staff at the senior center, and even most of the staff at St. Joe’s, are excellent at dealing with seniors. There is a whole field of medicine devoted to understanding and caring for the elderly. The jail doesn’t have that.
St. Joe’s is NOT a mental health facility.
I don’t care if he is 11 or 81, if you call someone up and tell them you are going to come down and shoot up the building they and other innocent people are within – you are headed to jail first. EPD did the right thing. Don’t dump mental health problem people in the ER, they are not staffed or trained to deal with those cases.
🕯🌳 The jail does have staff to deal with this but personal being at the hospital or being an extension of the hospital they should have sent him there for evaluation first because if the jail can’t handle him that’s where’s he’s going.
I’m sure there is one of those damn flowcharts for this(lol). Having read all the comments here though it sounds like the ol guy lost his temper and said something to the effect of:
“And you wonder why people go crazy and shoot places up”
Or
“Maybe I should come down there and shoot the place up like those guys on TV (that I’ve been hearing about 24/7 for the last 3 days on CNN/FOX/MSNBC your pick)”
Either way it’s not an appropriate behavior from anyone, especially an elder. Scaring the poor teenager or early 20something who’s life is ruled by drama and has also probably been reading accounts of mass shootings nonstop on the newsfeed on her phone for the last couple days. All in all, probably the best outcome. You don’t need to send him to sempervirens for 3 days/nights for blowing his top at the teenybopper. Hopefully he gets a judge with a good perspective and maybe she forbids him from watching 24hr news and makes him spend a little of that time reading to kids at the library. A sad but I guess understandable waste of resources?
I’m sorry to have to report that I feel his pain and frustration, and lament that the administrations of medical clinics are so debased as to not recognize when they’re pushing the patients too far. It’s NOT okay to keep making sick people jump through hoops over and over and over and over while STILL not getting their illnesses and worries addressed.
And this “lockdown” business is getting out of hand, too.
I’m sorry the poor old guy had to get arrested for losing his cool, and hope he’s back home safe and somebody finds him a real doctor who will/can spend more time on him.
As part of a clinic, we just do not have the availability that is needed. We do not have enough providers. The patients have to realize this and not take it out on the people doing their jobs.
Kerri, what about the clinic stops putting the onus for its shortcomings onto the patients? What about working harder to actually BE a place where the health and welfare of the patients comes before resorting to defending the staff for “doing their job”? It’s NOT their job! It’s just what’s forced on them, and if any of them are so defensive about accepting the role of front line patient antagonism forces, they could at least have the common decency never to call the police when the patients lose their patience.
Mental evals can be done from jail. Criminal threats are hard to prove and have elements that MUST be met for arrest. Details to the public are missing, but they had grounds for arrest. He could be too much of a threat to take to Sempervirens.
No “maybe” in your reality, eh? 81 years old & distraught. You really think arrest is the best option?
Don’t people get a little senile at that age?
Especially when living alone.
The “facility” is probably Crestwood. It is a mental health center. Besides a person can’t just be sent involuntarily of for that matter voluntarily after having committed a crime. Unless the individual acts out in front of them and they can judge the hospital will take him for emergency treatment, the police take him in charge. If they get a qualified practitioner to sign saying he’s a danger to himself or others due to a severe mental disability, they can take him to a mental health facility. Otherwise, they need a court order.
Nothing is simple and that’s because of laws to protect the person’s rights, not to leave the choice up to the police.
Thanks.
We had to hang out at a pharmacy near there and this batshit crazy older woman hit me up for money to buy candy.
Later on she asked for drugs, acid, anything.
My friend found her funny and entertaining.
I just tried to hide in the car.
It made me sad.
why would he be calling Crestwood to get an appointment there? It’s a long term inpatient facility, not an outpatient clinic.
At that age EPD should have taken him to St Joe’ for medical clearance and evaluation in the ER. They gotta rule out stuff like stroke or urinary tract infection. If he gets too unruly the ER at St Joe’s can sedate him.
Yes. Why would he?
He’s is one of our oldest family friends and he got frustrated he is not mentally ill he has a temper so this is bull crap that they would say something like this. Absolute idiots he’s fine nothing is wrong with him
Its pure elder abuse. I don’t care how you cut it.
When I first read this, I could hear him saying, “And you wonder why people snap and go on shooting sprees,” or something to that effect.
I hope he’s okay.
Chloe, please tell him many of us feel his pain and he has nothing to feel bad about. We hope he comes out punching, or at least stating his case boldly.
We, his juniors, are supposed to help our elders and we are supposed to respond with a “yes sir” not a tarasoff, when our elders give us instruction.
Eff the wonkass who filed on him.
🕯🌳People in this county love to jump to conclusions, I’m guilty of it myself. Wish him well.
If he was calling the outpatient imaging center, I really don’t blame him. One of my family members spent a month calling and leaving messages every day trying to get an appointment. Finally had to go in in person and refuse to leave until the appointment was scheduled.
Anyone who threatens to shoot up an establishment because they were “frustrated” has some serious MENTAL issues. This man threatened people’s LIVES. In wake of the shootings that happened mere days prior to this threat occurring, it is completely fathomable and reasonable that this facility felt threatened and chose to take action to protect innocent employees and patients. Just because you know this man does not mean what he did was okay. The police arrested him for a reason.
this is a perfect example of some peice o crap lazy asshole not giving a shit and when someone who has worked their whole life gets fed up and tells them off, they get scared call the cops saying that they are scared. well they should be scared it is lazy shitheads that have been raised upnot being taught that life isnt fair and infact it sucks,you just gotta lace those boots up and shovel that shit if you dont want to live in it. but no they were taught dont like it it cant be right call the police as hurt feels are a major crime. maybe next time they can call their mommy to bring them their blanky and a warm bottle before they call the police.
amen bro. well said
what you said… yup yup…. incompetent ppl covering asses
The tele tells us every day that “If you see something, say something”. It is truly distressing to have the populace acting like the gestapo. National fear has us afraid of our own shadows and reporting our neighbors peeing in their own back yards.
We live in a world that encourages the least of us to demand justice for ourselves but is very silent on being obliged at the same time to offer it to others.
Im with the last 5 commenters, nice to hear some logical thoughts!
Sad y’all PREsume this dudes a puktard..
MAYbe (like we all know some in Hum are [well most]) the Med staff was incompetent, rude, discourteous,
lied to him over and over to cover negligence..
and he just got tired of it went off on some snowflake.. and got busted.. wtf is a threat now??
MAYbe, just MAYbe.. some tight-ass bitch who doesn’t know her job was covering her ass because she was expecting a huge complaint to the actual board.. just Maybe something to ponder.. a threat… notice it’s not specific…
He is not a threat. I worked with him for many years and found him to be very rational and kind. I’m sure he was being given the run-a-round. I surely hope the charges are dropped, and the caller of cops is chastened appropriately.
Just know this man has the means to post bail, but refused to do so as it would, to him, be an admission of guilt. In his eyes, he was frustrated, said words out of frustration, but in no way threatened life. He has little tolerance for incompetence and have a feeling impatience got the best of him at his age. He had to spend several days in jail because they were short staffed and could not process him. Sad situation all around.