WATCH: Robot retrieves shotgun, enabling deputies to safely arrest man after hour-long stand-off
Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Marshall W. Durocher, 63, was arrested Thursday evening for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon after an hour-long stand-off in which he refused to move away from the gun; he was previously arrested on October 1 for driving with a revoked license.
At about 5:50 p.m. on October 9, Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a home in Arrendondo Estates, where the caller said Durocher, his roommate, had become enraged after a verbal argument and had left the home with a loaded shotgun. Deputies found Durocher sitting in an SUV outside the home, with the shotgun pointed at his head. Additional units responded, including the Negotiation Response Team, the Bomb Squad Robot Operator, a K-9 Unit, and Mental Health Co-Responders; the road was closed, and nearby residents were asked to remain in their homes.
Durocher acknowledged that he could hear deputies who told him to drop the shotgun, but he refused to comply for over an hour. He eventually dropped the shotgun on the ground but continued to refuse commands to move away from the gun, so a robot was deployed to retrieve the shotgun.
Click here to see video from the incident, including the retrieval of the shotgun by a robot.
After the shotgun was removed, Durocher was arrested for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He has four felony convictions (one violent) and two misdemeanor convictions (one violent); he was arrested on October 1 for driving with a revoked license and released the next day on his own recognizance. Judge Jonathan Ramsey set bail at $25,000 on the new charge.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
How sad that we’ve created a society and culture where people think that just having a gun is something that keeps them safe. Then if they run into problems, such as this person’s mental illness, they continue to see that gun as something that keeps them safe. They cling to it even as it gets them into more, avoidable, trouble. Especially in this instance, where he’s already been tagged with violence. It could have gone either way with the weapon directed at himself or the officers. Thank goodness the officers were able to retrieve it safely.
We need better gun laws. For some crazy reason I need a prescription to purchase kidney friendly cat food, but anyone can buy ammunition.
If you didn’t pay a vet to poison your cat by over vaccination thereby damaging its kidneys you wouldn’t have to pay a vet to give you an Rx for cat food.
Your cat food Rx isn’t protected under a constitutional amendment unlike arms and ammo. We will never give up our guns just because crazy felons exist and take advantage of it…grow up!
Dear Slice (so brave of you to use your own name!)
I don’t know if you’ve ever had a pet, but if you don’t vaccinate them, and they bite someone, the animal gets put down and its head is sent to a lab to test for rabies. Not pleasant for you, your pet, or the vet who removes the head. And I’m not sure if any of that answers the question about why I’d need a prescription to purchase a particular formulation of cat food.
As to “We will never give up our gubs…” don’t get you knickers in a twist. Nothing was said about taking away your blankie and passie. I see your point. Just because one shoe bomber took down a jet, there’s no reason for TSA to check my shoes, but there ya go.
And if you read the Constitution literally, while arms are mentioned, there’s nothing about ammunition or regulating type or quantity. I think a prescription for the ammo isn’t a bad thing. You don’t have to take your pills right away, save that cotylenol for when you really need it and you’ll be sure to have enough on hand.
Hollyweird movies taught us that.
It’s a mental health problem, not a problem with guns. More laws don’t assure that sick people won’t own fire arms.
Bail only $25,000?
Replying to Joe
He’s most likely related to a cop, judge or someone that works for the Alachua county judicial system. That’s how that works around here and most anywhere but especially HERE!!
Some people are homeless or in jail for good reasons. They’re too difficult to live with voluntarily. So why keep releasing them if they haven’t changed?
Is that Steve Bannon
Ain’t he a real peach.