Veteran committed suicide during standoff with Police after VA cuts meds

Police: Barricaded gunman standoff ends in suicide

Daily Telegram
By Dmitriy Shapiro
Staff Writer
May 2, 2019

Eichler said Stidham, a veteran, complained for awhile that the Veterans Affairs hospital he was going to said that they were going to remove him from his medications.

ADRIAN — A standoff Wednesday with a barricaded gunman in an Adrian neighborhood ended tragically as authorities reported finding the gunman dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Randy James Stidham, 59, of Adrian was found dead shortly before 7:40 p.m. after remotely operated vehicles with the Michigan State Police Bomb Squad were sent through his house at 624 Ormsby St.

At press time, Adrian Deputy Police Chief Lawrence Van Alstine said that investigators do not know what caused Stidham to barricade himself in his house and eventually take his life but were working on interviewing his friends and family as the investigation continues.

“He wasn’t interested in apparently communicating with us. Our goal was to have a peaceful resolution, and this is not that,” Van Alstine said. “Other than him, no one is hurt, but he’s still somebody’s family and it’s important that we don’t forget that.”

Police first arrived at the scene at 5 a.m. following reports of gunshots. Van Alstine said that two officers were shot at but neither were hit.
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Iraq Veteran MP Died During Standoff

Man involved in Sunday shooting was military policeman, Fort Gordon officials say
Augusta Chronicle
By Travis Highfield Staff Writer
Sept. 23, 2015

A man shot by a state ranger before turning a gun on himself Sunday was a military policeman assigned to Fort Gordon, officials confirmed.

In a statement from the installation’s Public Affairs Office, officials said that Sgt. David Sean Owens, 28, of Montgomery, Ala., had belonged to the 35th Military Police Detachment, a criminal investigations unit. He entered service in July 2007 and served as a military policeman in Hawaii from July 2008 to August 2011, according to the release. He served a tour of duty in Iraq from July 2009 to July 2010 before arriving at Fort Gordon in October 2011.

Five witnesses, including at least one deputy, said they saw Owens walking along Baker Place Road and past Chaffin. When Chaffin tried to get Owens to get out of the road, Owens pulled out a pistol, chambered a round and pointed the gun at Chaffin, according to the report.

Chaffin shot Owens, who then used his own gun to shoot himself in the head, according to witnesses at the scene. Owens was taken to Doctors Hospital, where he later died.
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Waterford Lakes standoff ends in suicide

What could have been done differently may never be known. Ovesen had concerned his ex-girlfriend enough that she called police. The police knew they had a potentially suicidal man to confront and perhaps they were also informed he was armed. It seems as if everyone tried as much as they could to help this man but they were just too late. Over the years, every piece of advice that could have been given fits into what all the people involved in this tragedy tried to do, but no one can prevent every suicide. I really wish we could. Please pray for his family and the people in his life, but also for the police officers that tried to save his life.

Waterford Lakes standoff ends in suicide
Susan Jacobson

Sentinel Staff Writer

8:53 PM EDT
July 17, 2009


A suicidal man who barricaded himself in a Waterford Lakes home has killed himself, authorities said.

The standoff began about 2:35 p.m. when Svend Aage Ovesen's ex-girlfriend called and asked the Orange County Sheriff's Office to check on him because he had threatened suicide.

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Waterford Lakes standoff ends in suicide