Family shares son’s tragic mental health struggle

>> I JTUS WISH THE OUTCOME WAS DIFFERENT. >> 911. >> I’VE GOT A GUY SAYING SOMEONE OK AND, I DON’T BELIEVE THEY DID. I THINK HE IS MESSED UP ON SOMETHING. KATHY: MOMENTS AFTER THAT 911 CALL BACK IN NOVEMBER OF 2020, 35-YEAR-OLD THOMAS CELONA WAS KILLED BY WINCHESTER POLE.IC IT WAS A SINGLE BULLET THAT TOOK CELONA’S LIFE AND CRUSHED HIS FAMI.LY >> AS PARENTS, WHAT DO YOU WANT THE PUBLIC TO KNOW? >> YOU NEVER WANT TO HAVE FOUR POLICEMEN SHOW UP AT YOUR DOOR AT1:00 1 AT NIGHT TO TELL YOU YOUR BABY’S BEEN SHOT AND KILLED BY THE POLICE IN HIS OWN HOME. KATHY: CELONA, WHO HAD A LONG HISTORY OF MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER, WAS INSIDE HIS WINCHESTER APARTMENT IN CRISIS. WHEN POLICE SHOWED UP, THEY HEARD DISTURBING NOISES INSIDE AND WERE CONCERNED SOMEONE NEEDED HELP. REPORTS SHOW THEY YELLED TO TOMMY TO OPEN THE DOOR. WHEN HE DIDN’T RESPOND, THEY BROKE IT DOWN. INSIDE CELONA WAS CROUCHED DOWN, STABBING A SLIDING GLASS DOOR. >> YOU HAVE THREE BIG POMELIN YELLING AT HIM, OK, DROP THE KNIFE. TIGHT QUARTE.RS FROM FROM THE OFFICERS’ PERSPECTIVE, NOT IDEAL AT ALL. KATHY: PICOLE SAY EYTH PLEADED WITH HIM TO PUT THE KNIVES DOWN, DTASE HIM AND AS HE BEGAN TO , WALK TOWARD THEM, OPENED FIRE. >> IF PAUL AND I H BADEEN CAEDLL THAT NIGHT, WE COULD HAVE DE-ESCALATED THE WHOLE THING. KATHY: CELONA WAS KNOWTON WINCHESTER POLICE. HIS FAMILY MET WITH THEM ASKING FOR ADVICE AND HELP AFTER A PRIOR INCIDE.NT NOW HIS PARENTS ARE PUSHING FOR MORE TRAINING TO HELP IMPROVE THE OUTCOMES OF THESE TYPES OF ENCOUNTERS. >> LET’S STOP THIS, SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO INTERVIEW ANYBODY ELSE LIKE THIS AGAIN. KATHY: 5 INVESTIGATES REVIEWED FATAL POLICE-INVOLVED SHOOTINGS SINCE 2019. ALMOST HALF OF THE 23 OPPELE KILLED HAD HISTORIES OF MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES OR SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER. THEY INCLUDE BRENDAN RILEY IN LEXINGTON STEPHANIE GERARDI, AT , HER HOUSE IN SAUGUS, MICHAEL CONLON AT HIS NEWTON APARTNTME AND JUSTON ROOT, WHO WAS SHOT 26 TIMES IN BROOKLINE. THIS WHEN CALLS TO POLICE INVOLVING PEOPLE EXPERIENCING A MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS ARE ON ETH RISE. MANY DEPARTMENTS ARE ARMING OFFICERS WITH SPECIALIZED TRAINING. >> OF COURSE WE’ HLLELP YOU. KATHY: SOME HAVE BEEN EMBEDDING MENTAL HEALTH CLINICIANS WITH OFFICERS TO HELP DE-ESCALATE CRITICAL SITUATIONS FOR YEARS. HERE IN WINCHESTER, POLICE ADDED THEIR FIRST CLINICIAN LAST SUMMER AND THEY’RE WORKING TO CERTIFALY L OFFICERS IN CRITICAL INCIDENT TRAINING. MANY HAVE ALSO GONE THROUGH OTHER MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING THE PAST FEW YEARS. FOR THE CELONA FAMILY, THE LOSS IS UNBEARABLE. MORE TRAINING AND RESOURCES FOR POLICE CAN’T COME SOON ENOUGH. >> I AM NOT ANTI-POLICE AT ALL. I DON’T WANT ANYBODY ELSE TOO G THUGROH THIS. KATHY: A JUDGE RULED THE SHOOTING WAS JUSTIFIED IN ETH CELONA CASE. TOMMY’S PARENTS ARE UPSET THEY WEREN’T ALLOWED TO SPEAK ABOUT MENTAL ILLNESS DURING THAT INQUEST. WINCHESTER OFFICIALS HOPE THE ADDITION OF A CLINICIAN WILL HELP SUPPORT THOSE IN NEED AND STOP THE CYCLE OF REPEATED ENCOUNTERS WITH POLI

‘I just wish the outcome was different’: Family shares son’s tragic mental health struggle

Updated: 8:25 AM EDT May 21, 2022

The officer who fatally shot Tommy Celona had encountered him twice before on calls to service, once placing him under arrest. But this time was different.”You never want to have four policemen show up at your door at 11 o’clock at night,” Alyce Celona, Tommy’s mother, said in an interview with sister station WCVB. “To tell you your baby has been shot and killed by the police in his own home.”In November 2020, police responded to a 911 call about a disturbance in Tommy Celona’s apartment. When police knocked the door down, they found Tommy Celona in a crouched position, stabbing a sliding glass door and asserting that someone had attempted to break in.”You have three big policemen yelling at him to drop the knife,” Paul Celona, Tommy’s father, said. “And in tight quarters.”Police continued to yell at him, directing him to drop the knife. Tommy Celona did not drop the knife. And as he started to move toward the officers, that is when they opened fire, killing Tommy Celona with a single bullet.”If Paul and I had been called that night, we could have de-escalated that whole thing,” Alyce Celona said.Watch the video above for more on this story.

The officer who fatally shot Tommy Celona had encountered him twice before on calls to service, once placing him under arrest. But this time was different.

“You never want to have four policemen show up at your door at 11 o’clock at night,” Alyce Celona, Tommy’s mother, said in an interview with sister station WCVB. “To tell you your baby has been shot and killed by the police in his own home.”

In November 2020, police responded to a 911 call about a disturbance in Tommy Celona’s apartment. When police knocked the door down, they found Tommy Celona in a crouched position, stabbing a sliding glass door and asserting that someone had attempted to break in.

“You have three big policemen yelling at him to drop the knife,” Paul Celona, Tommy’s father, said. “And in tight quarters.”

Police continued to yell at him, directing him to drop the knife. Tommy Celona did not drop the knife. And as he started to move toward the officers, that is when they opened fire, killing Tommy Celona with a single bullet.

“If Paul and I had been called that night, we could have de-escalated that whole thing,” Alyce Celona said.

Watch the video above for more on this story.

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