Unfit to stand trial, man in armed standoff to be hospitalized

A Charlottetown manat the centre of an armed standoff in August has been declared not criminally responsible for his actions because of the state of his mental health at the time.

Ronald Douglas Gay, 44, appeared in Charlottetown provincial court Thursday by video link from jail.

Judge Jeff Lantzaccepted the findings of a 43-page psychiatry report thatdescribed Gayas suffering from schizophrenia.

According to that report, Gay believed he was working for the CIA and that voices "from a chip planted in his head" were telling him what to do.

Court heard Gay had stopped taking medications he'd been prescribed for his mental condition, in the days leading up to the Aug. 21 incident.

Police were called to Euston and Upper Hillsboroughstreets after someone saw Gay walking around with a sword and what looked like a handgun.

When police arrived, Gay was in his third-floor apartment.Officers could see the barrel of a gun protruding from a window.

Police closed off streets while officers carrying rifles and wearing body armour took up positions outside the building.

A senior member of Charlottetown Police Services and an officer trained in crisis negotiation spoke to Gay through his closed bedroom door.

Police left a phone behind in Gay's apartment, to continue talking to him. Officers of the tactical unit eventually set off a stun grenade and took Gay into custody.

Items seized in Gay's apartment included a Japanese-style sword, a hatchet, and two BB guns:one in the style of a rifle, the other fashioned like a handgun.

Judge Lantz called the psychiatricreport "very thorough and comprehensive."

"He did commit the acts, but he's not responsible due to mental disorder," said Lantz.

Gay sat with arms crossed and did not speak while seated in front of the video camera in jail.

Lantz ordered himto be transferred from jail to a psychiatric hospital, either HillsboroughHospital in Charlottetownor another facility, as directed byHillsborough administrators.

Gay's case will be reviewed at a future date by the criminal review board, to determine if and when he can be released from hospital.

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