I had to call the cops

I had to call the cops on a friend Tuesday night.

The story:

I just recently reconnect with a really old friend of mine a few weeks ago, we’ll call him Nick. We were close friends in high school and we dated for a really short period. Well we were just talking over Messenger casually (not every day). Sharing stories and laughs. Small stuff. We don’t live in the same city. He’s about 2 hours away from me.

Then Sunday night Nick told me he had a fight with his girlfriend, we’ll call her Jessica. He was really down about it and hoping they could work things out. He said that he was gonna try and find a counselor to talk to. I heavily supported this since he seemed to be taking it really hard.

Monday: In the morning messaged Nick to check on how things were. I’ve had experience with friends/family doing things because of depression and such so, I just wanted to make sure he was okay. You never know? After I fell asleep Sunday, I guess Jessica called the cops on him. I didn’t know this but I found out that after they got into and fight he climbed on her roof and wouldn’t come down. After finding this out I urged him to find a counselor. He said he would.

That night he messaged me upset saying that his ex-wife wouldn’t let him see his daughter. That he had gone over to see her and that she called the cops. I strongly urged him to stop what he was doing and just turn himself in if there were any issues then they could get worked out. That this wasn’t normal. He told me he had an appointment to see a counselor on Tuesday and wanted to make it to that appointment. He wasn’t listening to anyone but since I’m a Christian he thought he could vent to me. (His thinking not mine) He said he thought something was wrong with him. He wanted to get help. That he thought he had a chemical imbalance issue that he just needed to get someone to help him.

Tuesday: this is when things really escalated.

I messaged him after talking to my husband and asked how his appointment went. He told me he was gonna leave town. Gave me his phone number, I don’t know why he did. But that’s what he did. I told him he shouldn’t leave town. That he needed to make things better for him. That he had a daughter to look out for. I gave him the number for a crisis hotline. Begged him to call it. Asked him to sit down and just breathe.

Now it goes insane: he sends me a picture of bullets and a gun. Tells me he called Jessica and her ex answered her phone. I don’t know this girl and I’ve never met. I found her on Facebook and messaged her right away. I told her “you don’t know me but I’m talking to Nick and he’s saying some crazy stuff. You need to get somewhere safe. I don’t live by you and don’t know who to call but I’m going to call the cops” So while I’m trying on Messenger to talk him down, I’m googling the number for the police departments in his city. I was able to find his address and use that. I called one PD and they gave me a number for another one to call (seriously?!), so I called that one and told them everything.

While I’m doing this he’s telling me “I don’t know why I’m telling you any of this. I’m sorry.” I’m telling the dispatcher that someone NEEDS to go to his house now! I’m feeling like no one is listening to me. They’re not understanding the gravity of this.

Nick stopped responding to me. I got ahold of Jessica on Messenger (I had no other way) and she’s telling me that he’s been having some self harm issues for a while now. She’s done all she can for him. Then I get a call from a deputy and he says no one is home at Nick’s house. So I’m begging the deputy to please go to this girl’s house. I gave him her name and her age and they looked her up. After hanging up, Jessica messages me and says that he broke into her house. That she can see him on a security camera and he has a gun. Thank the Lord above she wasn’t home. I call dispatch back and tell them what I just found out. She said they were on route to Jessica’s house put it was out of their jurisdiction and I needed to call that PD and tell them (I’m sorry but WTF). So I call that PD and tell them everything again. The dispatcher hangs up with me and says I’ve done everything I can.

All I could do was wait see what happened...

Yesterday morning around 11, I get one message from Nick. It’s a picture of the front of his house. There’s a SWAT van. I tell my husband and he looks online. It’s all true. The news is reporting that there’s a standoff at his house.

After 2 hours, he was arrested and taken into custody.

My husband says I did the right thing. I did everything I was able to do. That because of me, I was able to tell Jessica to get out of the house, get somewhere safe with her kids. I felt like I did all the wrong things. Like there was more I could have done.

I told two of my friends and my Dad what had happened. They all told me I was an idiot for even talking to someone like that in the first place. That I’m lucky if he doesn’t come after me (but he doesn’t know I called anyone). That I put myself in danger and should have thought it through.

I know I did the right thing.... even if I’m the only one...I know I did what was right.

*sorry if anything is jumbled to unclear. I was typing fast and will correct any typos eventually*