Document text
Deputies kill knife-wielding mental patient photo by Bob Pennell By Mark Freeman CENTRAL POINT � Mark LeRoy Vincent once likened the demons locked inside him to being in a dark cave, hearing the growl and knowing a great bear is there with him. Diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, Vincent occasionally felt like he was drifting, and other times convinced he was receiving visions he needed to decode. The bear in him also jumped out violently, once causing him in 1990 to burn down his parents Central Point home and fire a dozen pistol shots at Jackson County sheriff�s deputies who were trying to take Vincent to a mental ward . "Most of the times we�ve dealt with him, he�s been fine," sheriff�s Capt. Ed Mayer said. "When he�s not taking his (medication), he�s been trouble." The troubled, non-medicate Vincent leaped one last time Monday at police, and now both the man and the beast within him are dead. Two sheriff�s deputies trying to arrest Vincent on a mental health detainer shot and killed the 39-year-old schizophrenic, who police said was armed with a knife, in the same Willow Springs Road where the police shooting and fire took place a decade ago. The two deputies tried to coax Vincent out of his parent�s house at 2908 Willow Springs Road and at one point tried to use an electronic taser to stun and subdue Vincent shortly before 4 p.m., deputies said. But Vincent withstood the taser shot, then allegedly grabbed the knife and threatened the two unidentified deputies who then opened fire, leading Jackson County Deputy District Attorney Beth Heckert to call the shooting an apparent act of self-defense. Jackson County Mental Health Director Hank Collins called it a tragic ending to a troubled life. "It�s sad, very sad," Collins said. "He�s a difficult situation, to say the least." Bill Vincent, one of the dead man�s six brothers and sisters, said only that his brother needed to remain medicated to keep his bear at bay. "He wasn�t taking his medication," Bill Vincent said at the scene. "That�s all I can say." The two deputies fired several shots into Vincent, who died in his family�s living room, sheriff�s Lt. Dewey Patten said. Also wounded in the right wrist was Vincent�s 77-year-old father, Wayne Vincent, who was in the house at the time of the shooting, police said. Mayer said Wayne Vincent was "just observing" the incident between his son and the police. Police believed that the elder Vincent may have been hit by a bullet fragment or a ricochet, Mayer said. Wayne Vincent was taken to Rogue Valley Medical Center, where he was listed Monday night in critical condition, a hospital spokesman said. The multi-agency Jackson County Major Assault/Death Investigation Unit was investigating the case, which will likely be presented to a grand jury for review in a week or two, Heckert said. Mark Vincent had a long history of mental illness, with his most violent outburst coming Feb. 8, 1990. When sheriff�s deputies tried to serve a mental-health warrant at his parents� home, Vincent waved a long knife out a window at three deputies before firing 12-20 shots at the officers. No one was injured, but Vincent then started a fire in the house before jumping out the window and surrendering, according to police reports. Vincent was found guilty except for insanity on two charges each of attempted murder and assault, then sentenced to 40 years under state mental-health supervision. It was at his May 23, 1990 sentencing, Vincent told the court how his schizophrenia often left him feeling like he was in the dark cave with a growling bear. Vincent also said that, on the day of the shooting, he believed the country was at war and that he would be harmed if the deputies hospitalized him on the mental-health detainer. Collins said Vincent has been in and out of hospital wards since then, and recently was in custody at the 25-bed mental-healthy wing at RVMC. Deputies had arrested Vincent on a similar mental-health detainer last spring, more than a month after he wandered into the Jackson County Jail asking to talk to a deputy about his visions and decoded messages he was receiving, sheriff�s records indicated. Vincent was scheduled to be taken into custody on another mental-health detainer late last week when he reported to his counselor at the county�s mental health center on East Main Street in Medford, Collins said. But Vincent fled the center, leading counselors to ask deputies to find Vincent, which eventually culminated in Monday�s confrontation at the Vincent home, Collins said. "It�s tragic," Collins said. "We have people who need to be in physical custody, but we don�t have enough space." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.