Police Grab Gun Away From Woman Suffering Mental Health Crisis

The Fostoria police chief was able to grab a gun away from a woman suffering a mental health crisis and threatening to harm herself.

Chief Gabe Wedge said officers found the woman lying in a garden south of the Best Western Hotel at around 4:15 Friday morning.

He said the 30-year-old had a gun pointed to her head and was threatening to harm herself.

After several hours of talking with the woman, Fostoria Police Sergeant Kent Reinbolt, providing cover with a ballistics shield, and Fostoria Police Chief Gabe Wedge were able to close the physical distance with the woman and that’s when Chief Wedge was able to grab the firearm away from the woman.

No injuries were reported as a result of this incident.

The woman was taken for medical treatment for her mental health condition.

No criminal charges are being filed at this time, the chief said.

“Deputy Petree did an amazing job talking with the female keeping her calm, as she continued to point the weapon at herself with her finger on the trigger,” Chief Wedge said.

“It provided for me and Sergeant Reinbolt to close the gap with the female, so we could access the situation further, which led me to being able to get ahold of the weapon and get it pointed away from her, in a safe direction, should she have chosen to squeeze the trigger. The teamwork between local law enforcement in this area is truly amazing. Anyone watching this would have thought all of us had known each other and practiced this for years, the way we worked in tandem; when in fact, for some of us officers, it was the first time we had met each other.”

Chief Wedge added that this goes to prove that the Crisis Intervention Training that law enforcement officers in Ohio are undergoing is paying off in a big way.