If a person is diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease, they need to be monitored closely for their own safety and the safety of others. So where is the family or legal caretaker for this person and how did he get a gun? It is true that Alzheimer's patients are known to wander but it is not common for them to wander and discover a gun. The immediate home environment needs to be revised for safety much in the same way that one does for small curious children.
Beyond all this, there is still the tragic event with the man with dementia holding a gun. I am a nurse, not a policeman, but I wonder if in this case of extreme danger, could the objective be to wound the man, yet save his life? Yet even a wounded man could shoot back. So in hindsight there should have been a responsible person as a caretaker or if the man was in the advanced stages he should have been cared for in a dementia unit.
@6: The article notes that his relatives took away most of his guns for his safety, but since he used to own "a lot of guns", they obviously didn't get them all.
How were the dispatchers to know this guy was delusional? How were to Police to know? They saw a guy waving a gun around, they most likely told him to put it down, the old guy did not, and boom.
I was a paid companion for elderly folks for a couple of years, I provided respite, companionship, and housekeeping services to the elderly and their families. Again and again I was put into situations where I thought the senior person was too far gone to be left alone ever and the families refused to deal with that fact. And that resulted in their family member injuring themselves and putting others in danger.
As are delusional beliefs, like supply side economics or austerity as a solution for anything.
Too soon?
http://youtu.be/OE4fw_VMl08
At what point do you call a crisis intervention team, rather than shoot the guy aiming the gun at you?
Beyond all this, there is still the tragic event with the man with dementia holding a gun. I am a nurse, not a policeman, but I wonder if in this case of extreme danger, could the objective be to wound the man, yet save his life? Yet even a wounded man could shoot back. So in hindsight there should have been a responsible person as a caretaker or if the man was in the advanced stages he should have been cared for in a dementia unit.
I was a paid companion for elderly folks for a couple of years, I provided respite, companionship, and housekeeping services to the elderly and their families. Again and again I was put into situations where I thought the senior person was too far gone to be left alone ever and the families refused to deal with that fact. And that resulted in their family member injuring themselves and putting others in danger.
I had to quit that job it was too heartbreaking.