Wake County man charged after mental health, law enforcement prevent threat on NC State campus

The woman checked her 20-year-old son, Christian Dorr, into UNC Health Care Addiction Treatment Center at WakeBrook, a search warrant says, and told police there that he had recently purchased three firearms. Those law enforcement officers contacted police at NC State, who searched his SUV, which they found parked in the Dan Allen Deck, at 110 Dan Allen Drive in Raleigh.

After he was released from the treatment facility, Dorr, of Morrisville, was charged with having weapons on educational property and possessing marijuana.

"I'm a big believer in if you see something, say something. And if you recognize someone is having a crisis, it's important to get the appropriate people involved," said Roosevelt Richard, a training organizer for Alliance Health Crisis Intervention.

Dozens of first responders in Wake County learned about crisis intervention during a week-long training class. They learn tactics to de-escalate a potential crisis situation.

"One of the hardest things about being a police officer is that you're always there after something has already occurred," said Michael Macario, senior crisis intervention training with the Raleigh Police Department.

Tom Hadley, a volunteer with the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said, "The normal command presence that an officer might use, on a traffic stop for example, might not work with a person who is in crisis."

He is attending the training workshop to improve his skills.

"Certainly the mental health professionals need the support of law enforcement because they're not always aware of a person that's going to have a crisis," he said.

Crisis trainers agree the collaborations between mental health providers and law enforcement worked in the case of this young man.

"This is a great example of getting there before a potentially catastrophic event could have occurred," said Macario. "Just by pooling our resources, getting the information together and having channels of communication open so we can prevent something like that from happening."

According to the warrant, officers searched the white 2013 Toyota 4 Runner on March 7 and found three long guns, a pistol-shaped BB gun, and at least three boxes of ammunition.

An NC State spokesman said, "Police located the student's vehicle in a parking deck on campus that day and noticed items in plain view that appeared to be gun accessories. ... The student was not on campus at the time and police do not believe there was an immediate threat to campus."