Police: Man shot was high, paranoid

[drdªv€]

Eric Stafford, the Belmont Street man shot and killed March 19 by police, had not slept in days, was behaving oddly and tested for a high level of a commonly abused cough suppressant, according to state police detectives who investigated Stafford's death.
Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. previously announced that Fitchburg police were justified in shooting Stafford, who charged at them with a machete when they responded to his apartment that evening, after reports that Stafford was acting strangely.
Early's office on Tuesday released the May 4 report on the shooting.
Earlier on the evening of the shooting, officers were dispatched to 15 Belmont St. for a well-being check on Stafford, but were unable to contact him. Two hours later, they were called back, and Stafford's girlfriend gave them a key to enter the apartment, where they found him sitting in a back room, holding a machete.
After several attempts to get Stafford to drop his weapon, he raised it above his head and charged toward the officers, who shot him twice, killing him.
The following day, Stafford's girlfriend, Theresa Beach, told officers Stafford had been a stable and caring presence in her life -- the two had twins together -- but said he had "suffered some kind of psychological event as a result of his ingesting a massive quantity of the over-the-counter medication Cold, Cough, Coricidin," the report states.
"(She) stated that while abusing this
medication Stafford became paranoid and had delusions of grandeur," wrote Sgt. Daniel Richard of the State Police Detective Unit in Worcester. "Stafford was eventually arrested for his actions after calling the police and telling them that he had the solution for global warming." On the day of the shooting, the family went out to breakfast and Stafford made comments about the kitchen staff trying to poison him. Beach told Richard she was concerned because Stafford had not slept in two days and had abruptly quit his job, and at some point they had a verbal argument, so she took her children to a relative's house in Ashby.
"At approximately 4 p.m., Stafford had arrived ... in Ashby unannounced," Richard wrote. "Stafford continued to act oddly and ... kept saying the word 'winning.'"
Eventually, both Beach and Stafford returned to Belmont Street, where "Stafford was walking around the house with the machete," Richard wrote. "Stafford made comments about the Super Moon and that there were 'crazy people out.' (It should be noted that on this night there was in fact a Super Moon. The moon appeared larger in the sky and was very prominent. This event was publicized in the news)."
Stafford continued to act strangely, so Beach left again, as he told her "that she better not have people come for him."
State police interviewed all the officers who responded to both calls for service at the address the night Stafford was shot, including Officer Scott Gabriel and Sgt. Steven Giannini, who both fired their weapons when Stafford charged at them.
Detectives also reviewed cellphone text messages and photographs in both Beach's and Stafford's phones.
"This review confirmed the information garnered during the various interviews ... as it relates to Ms. Beach's concerns about Stafford's deteriorating mental health," Richard wrote. In Stafford's phone, investigators found two photos of his girlfriend with a "devastating gunshot head wound" upon the image, created in late January.
On April 21, detectives received a toxicology report that showed Stafford had "significantly high volumes of Dextromethorphan (DMX) in his system." DMX has legitimate uses as a cough suppressant but is commonly abused as a hallucinogen.

Link

[torque]

"DMX"

[drdªv€]

Originally Posted by torque

"DMX"

Yeah, I love the attention paid to being accurate...

[darklife]

DMX... Winning!

[In Bloom]

That's the biggest avatar I've ever seen!

I can't believe "DMX" wasn't just a one-time typo either. Honestly makes it hard to even take that article seriously.

[dextromancer]

daves avatar should be deleted, maimed, and his title changed to dmx luver 5000

[darklife]

Originally Posted by dextromancer

daves avatar should be deleted, maimed, and his title changed to dmx luver 5000

I disagree. I think he should be the ONLY one allowed to have a large avatar since it looks freakin awesome.

[dextromancer]

fine, but you should have your title changed to 'brown nose extraordinaire'

[Randolph Carter]

Originally Posted by darklife

I disagree. I think he should be the ONLY one allowed to have a large avatar since it looks freakin awesome.

Someone wants more (any?) staff privileges. What, have the reptilians brainwashed you too? :P

[darklife]

Originally Posted by dextromancer

fine, but you should have your title changed to 'brown nose extraordinaire'

Originally Posted by Randolph Carter

Someone wants more (any?) staff privileges. What, have the reptilians brainwashed you too? :P

Wow lol no, I wasn't even thinking what I said would be taken that way.
I just thought it would be rather funny if someone was allowed to have a big avatar and no one else was.
(possibly for the mere fact that staff can get away with such things)
Didn't know people here thought I was on some kind of side of a playing field.
Besides I highly doubt drdªv€ is around here enough to really be worthy of brown nosing.