Inclusion Daily Express -- Police: Kidnap Attempt Was Actually Suicide Attempt

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Police: Kidnap Attempt Was Actually Suicide Attempt
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
July 5, 2006

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA--Authorities believe an Oregon man tried to kidnap a boy at a Las Vegas airport last week in an effort to commit "suicide by police".

Nineteen-year-old Michael John Allgood, from Wilsonville, Oregon was in critical condition at a Las Vegas hospital last Wednesday recovering from gunshot wounds to the arm and chest, the Review-Journal reported.

Las Vegas Police said that on June 27, Allgood grabbed 3-year-old Quinton Moreau from a toy store near a security checkpoint inside McCarran International Airport. Allgood reportedly held a knife against the boy's throat as he tried to carry him past security officers. When he pointed the knife toward officers, one stunned him with a Taser, while two others shot him.

A police captain said that Allgood spoke immediately after the shooting indicating that he "made a deliberate attempt to provoke a confrontation with an officer to end his life."

Allgood has been charged with five felony counts, including kidnapping, battery and assault with a deadly weapon.

Sheriff's officials in Clackamas County, Oregon said they had had separate run-ins with Allgood in March and December of last year.

Allgood's family said that their son had not been taking his medication for an undisclosed mental illness.

The Review-Journal also reported that Allgood posted on his MySpace.com website that he had been in and out of Portland-area psychiatric wards and drug rehabilitation centers for most of 2006.

The incident is the third time in seven months that a man with mental illness has been shot or Tasered at a U.S. airport.

On December 7, federal air marshals shot and killed Rigoberto Alpizar, 44, who reportedly had not taken medication for his bipolar disorder, as he left an airliner sitting at a terminal at Miami International Airport. The officers said Alpizar had threatened to blow up the plane with explosives in his backpack and failed to follow their instructions to get down on the floor. No explosives were found.

On January 23, Troy Rigby, 29, was stunned with Tasers and subdued by officers on the tarmac at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Rigby, who had schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, had jumped out of a moving jetliner after shouting that he was claustrophobic.

Rigby was being held on charges of battery, aggravated battery, trespassing, battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence and criminal mischief when he was found unconscious on the floor of his county jail cell. He died on February 6 after life support was turned off. A medical examiner said he died of natural causes.

Like Alpizar and Allgood, family members said Rigby had stopped taking his medication at the time of the incident.

Related:
"Oregon teenager charged in Las Vegas airport shooting" (Associated Press)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/06/red/0705c.htm
"Prior run-ins with law detailed" (Las Vegas Journal-Review)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/06/red/0705b.htm
"September 11, 2001 and Beyond: The Impact of the Terror Attacks on People With Disabilities" (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/01/911.htm

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