Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 30, 1994 TAG: 9412300131
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH HUNTLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``It appears that Wells did have a history of mental illness and was known to at least some of our officers,'' Haskins said. ``It's truly tragic.''
According to police records, officers tried to get psychiatric help for Larry Wells three times in the past three years. From September 1991 to November 1993, Salem officers responded to five separate calls involving Wells at the couple's home at 2221 W. Main St.
On three of the five occasions, Wells was threatening to kill himself, police said. The other two calls were placed by Wells' wife, Jackie, who told the dispatcher her husband was ``out of control.''
The police first responded to a suicide threat July20, 1992, when Wells, armed with a shotgun, called authorities himself. Salem police took Wells to the Lewis-Gale Psychiatric Center for evaluation, Haskins said.
On June24, 1993, police served Wells with a court-issued emergency custody order that had been requested by his daughter. When they arrived at the home, Wells said he was extremely depressed because his wife had left him, Haskins said.
``In this order, it says he had been diagnosed as manic-depressive,'' Haskins said.
Again, Wells was brought in for psychiatric evaluation.
On Nov. 1, Jackie Wells phoned the dispatcher to request an officer to stand by while she packed up her belongings and moved out. ``We were there to prevent a breach of peace,'' Haskins said.
The next day, police were back at the house. Responding to a 911 call about a possible drug overdose, police found Wells sitting in a chair in his back yard, with a rifle - the same rifle he used to kill himself Wednesday - on his lap.
``He was threatening suicide,'' Haskins said. ``Three of our officers rushed him and disarmed him. He was apprehended without further incident and transported to Lewis-Gale Psychiatric [Center] for evaluation.''
Haskins said police confiscated the rifle, the handgun he used Wednesday to shoot his wife and a ``good bit of ammunition'' that day. But because no criminal charges were filed, police could not withhold the weapons permanently and returned them to him.
Salem police follow 11 pages of detailed guidelines when handling a person who is exhibiting signs of mental illness, but their involvement is limited to the evaluation process. As a result, Haskins said, he did not know how much time, if any, Wells spent undergoing psychiatric treatment beyond the initial evaluation.
``Once they've been placed in the hospital, it's in the court's hands,'' said Lt. J.A. Dudley.
Mental health hearings and their records are closed to the public, a Salem General District Court clerk said.
As police continued to put the pieces together Thursday, the medical examiner's office ruled that Wells, 52, killed himself with a gunshot to the head.
Roanoke Memorial Hospital declined to release any information about Jackie Wells, 40, who had been in satisfactory condition Wednesday after a bullet fired by her husband tore through her cheek and came out through her mouth.
by CNB