Caller Nine With An Axe To Grind
As the local CBS TV affiliate reports, a 911 call about a man in a red car brandishing weapons outside the Kiss studios in Medford drew a heavily armed swarm of police officers, who boxed in the suspect’s sedan and the standoff began as the guy drank beer and huffed something from a paper bag. At one point he climbed out of his vehicle. As witness Greg Gross said, “He was just out of his mind, absolutely out of his mind the entire time. They tried to get him to get down on the ground and he refused and he told them, ‘you’re just going to have to kill me then.'”
After three hours of intense drama, the cops finally convinced guy to surrender with only some minor self-inflicted cuts on his arms. An axe and several large knives were retrieved from the suspect’s car. To no one’s surprise, police say the man will undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
• Alert eyewitness Medha Gandhi of Kiss 108’s Matty In The Morning show was one of many staffers stuck inside watching out the window while the drama was unfolding in the parking lot. From her unique vantage point she was able to share some first-person observations on Facebook, posting, “Fun facts that they missed: I watched him down a six-pack, dodge a Taser, toss shoes and shovels out the window of his car, drive into a police car, and smoke two bowls before he finally gave up.”