FREEPORT, Maine — Police from three towns closed South Freeport Road and surrounded a home there Monday afternoon after receiving a report that an apparently suicidal man with a gun refused to emerge from the home of his former wife.
Freeport and Yarmouth police were notified Monday morning that a 40-year-old Falmouth man was threatening to kill himself with a gun, and might be headed to the South Freeport Road home, according to Freeport Police Lt. Susan Nourse.
Officers were unable to locate the man until just after 3 p.m., when police found his truck in the driveway of the South Freeport Road residence. Officers attempted to contact him by phone and over a loudspeaker, but received no answer, according to Nourse.
Officers closed South Freeport Road from the four corners in South Freeport village to Porter’s Landing, surrounded the house, and notified neighbors in person and by phone of the potentially dangerous situation.
The Brunswick Police Department’s Special Response Team arrived shortly before 7 p.m., just as the man emerged from the home with his former wife, according to Nourse. He was taken into protective custody without incident and taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland for psychiatric evaluation.
Both parties told police they had not heard the loudspeaker or the phone. Nourse said no gun was located.
No charges were filed against either party, although Nourse said civil charges of creating a police standoff are possible.
No injuries were reported.
If you are concerned about yourself or about somebody else, call the suicide crisis hotline at 1-888-568-1112. If you are not in Maine, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).