ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. – At a news conference Monday, June 17, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard provided an update on the Rochester Hills mass shooting.
The Sheriff spent a lot of Monday’s press conference talking about mental health -- which he said is obviously a serious problem here in Metro Detroit and across the nation.
“It appears he had been musing about different things saying ‘Shut your phone off, we’re being watched, they are out there listening to us,’ walking around the house with weapons,” said Sheriff Bouchard
According to family members, the suspected shooter in the Splash Pad shooting was dealing with severe mental health issues, however, Bouchard says it’s nothing new.
“It is an everyday thing in our communities across the country. There needs to be more focus on mental health for the community, more mental health resources in a wider continuum of care, both inpatient and outpatient. It’s not there,” Sheriff Bouchard explained.
It’s actually something the sheriff has been advocating for, for a very long time.
“I’ve been asking for more mental health resources for the community. We’re responding to mental health calls almost daily,” Sheriff Bouchard revealed.
It’s unfortunately a double-edged sword that affects the force as well.
“Law enforcement and public safety need more mental health peer-to-peer resources in their agencies. The last two years, police officers in the line of duty deaths have been through the roof. And the number that has exceeded that number is officers taking their own lives, so we need help,” Sheriff Bouchard insisted.
As a result, help is on the way, at least for some of the responding officers in Oakland County who have now had to deal with 2 mass shootings in less than 3 years.
“We are flying someone in this afternoon to begin the debriefs with our team, because they’ve been quite frankly through too much,” Sheriff Bouchard added.
For anyone who needs help, the Sheriff’s Office has a list of mental health resources here.
Related: Trauma, mental health are among concerns after Rochester Hills mass shooting