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Police were forced to storm the Park Avenue apartment of an armed, potentially suicidal 39-year-old man late Monday, according to a report in the Daily Voice.
He was identified as Timothy Murphy by The Journal News.
Because he was armed with an AK-47 assault rifle, Murphy was charged with two felony counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a misdemeanor count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and possession of marijuana.
Suffern Police Chief Clarke Osborn, responding to the complaints, advised residents to sign up for the NY Alert, a system that notifies the public by phone about emergencies.
The system, Osborn said, is administered by the Rockland County Sheriff's Department Communications Division.
Osborn said folks can sign up for the service at https://users.nyalert.gov/enroll.
Any problems that people who are already signed up may have had Monday may be due to their servers, he said.
Residents are also alerted to emergency situations with emails and texts through Nixle, an open communications and engagement platform, Osborn said.
To sign on for Nixle, you just have to text 888777, put 10901 in the subject area and hit send, he added.
Referring to the Monday standoff, Osborn said police were relieved that no one was hurt.
“It was just fortunate it ended the way it did,” he said. “We were able to get him (Murphy) in custody and get him the help he needed.”
As far as emergency communications with the public goes, Osborn said, “The more people that sign up (for the phone and email alerts systems), the better it is for us.”
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