By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Police converged on a Chehalis home yesterday afternoon after a caller to Sen. Patty Murray’s office in Washington D.C. reportedly threatened suicide and said it was “going to make the national news.”
The man, in his early 30s, had said he was not getting the help he needed from the veterans administration for his disability, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
A half dozen Chehalis officers as well as at least one sheriff’s deputy responded to the area of Northwest Ohio Avenue following the approximately 4 p.m. call from Washington D.C. according to police.
“We got information there were guns in the house,” police Sgt. Gwen Carrell said.
Carrell said an acquaintance of the man’s spoke with him on the phone, asked him to come outside and he did so peacefully within about 20 minutes.
Police didn’t find explosives or anything that indicated the man had the means to cause any kind of large-scale or nationally newsworthy incident, according to Carrell.
Detective Sgt. Gary Wilson met him at the door and the man was taken voluntarily to the hospital for a mental health evaluation, according to Carrell.
A spokesperson for the senator’s office said the details of the veteran’s complaint were confidential, but it did trigger a call to the U.S. Capitol Police in D.C.
Sen. Murray’s office will be following up on his concerns, spokesperson Matt McAlvanah said.
Murray is the former chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and remains a senior member, so they do help veterans who have issues with the Department of Veterans Affairs, McAlvanah said.