Man shot by Merrillville police suffered from mental illness, 'needed help' in hours before death, family says
Post-TribuneMar 17, 2018
"I asked, 'Where exactly are you going in such a rush?'"
But the 30-year-old
Records show family members had called
Hours before the fatal confrontation in
Terry's brothers were making the 10-hour trek from his home in
Two
Terry's mother,
She and his brothers said they think about the hours that led up to his death and the attempts to prevent it.
"He needed help," Greenwood-Terry said.
On
A little before
Terry took keys from inside, found the vehicle they belonged to in the lot and "started loading a bunch of his personal items" into it, Clemens said.
"Something scared him away, and we're not really sure what it was," Clemens said.
Terry left his personal items in the vehicle and drove away in his
Terry had no ties to
His family estimates he must have left
Around
"He hung up on me because I guess I was shocked and I said, 'Are you sure?' He had been having so many different dreams and hallucinating, you know," she said.
"Once we found his location and what he needed, we were able to keep him there long enough to see if law enforcement could do something to help him,"
The family called non-emergency police numbers in
"If I didn't think it was a dire situation, I wouldn't bother with it,"
Shortly before
Terry "has mental health issues" and said "he was driving to
Minutes later,
The officers noted Terry "seems lucid and fine," but they told him "his family was concerned for his safety," according to the report.
"He stated he did not want to hurt himself or others and further stated that he was 'fine.' He confirmed he was traveling to
Terry's
The officers got in touch with
Terry "was allowed to remain in his vehicle in the Walmart lot where he fell asleep," according to the report. He hadn't committed any crimes in
Mental health help
Police have a tough bar to meet when responding to a person who may be in a mental health crisis, said
"Too many times we as law enforcement as whole are forced to make difficult decisions. Sometimes they are split-second and sometimes we can analyze and weigh the options before we make a decision, and (in) this situation we had time to analyze our options,"
Under
"Unfortunately, neither option worked and we weren't able to legally detain
It's a delicate balance to find reasonable belief that meets legal criteria to detain someone without infringing on a person's civil rights, Halbert said.
If a police response doesn't lead to detention, a family can petition a medical professional to have a court order an emergency detention, but that can be a much longer process, Halbert and Gonzales said.
"These are really tough situations," Halbert said. "It can be heartbreaking for everybody involved."
Terry's family said they had asked police to detain Terry to keep him safe until they could get there and get him the help he needed, which
Terry studied at
"He was always very photogenic,"
While Terry had struggled with mental health issues in recent years, Greenwood-Terry said her son "kept everything kind of private" as they tried to get him help. Family members said he had been taking medication used to treat mental illness.
Terry was "having bad dreams," she said. When
"This was a real episode,"
Terry had never done anything as serious as an attempted burglary before, his family said.
Being hours away, it was frustrating to ask for help when Terry was all the way in
"I trusted that they were going to help my son, not kill him," Greenwood-Terry said.
911 calls
A woman who worked at the car dealership called police from inside a locked bathroom, according to recording the
When she insisted he needed to produce at least a driver's license for him to test drive a vehicle, "it took like a minute and a half for him to process it," she said.
"He said he'll be back," she said.
Terry then went outside, and, "the next thing I know he came back in with a knife in his hand," demanding keys from the manager, the woman said.
"He told him, 'I'm going to kill you if you don't,'" she said.
A male caller described Terry to a dispatcher -- a purple and yellow Vikings jacket, glasses -- when he broke off and yelled to someone in the distance, "He's right there! He's right there in the
Moments later, Terry was shot by
Police recovered a knife from the scene, and the task force previously said officers used a stun gun before shooting Terry. Mance declined to comment on when the stun gun was used and declined to answer additional questions until after prosecutors decide on the case.
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