An investigation into a nine-hour standoff Wednesday between law-enforcement officers and Gary Gautier continues, but without any charges filed against Gautier as of Thursday afternoon.
The Washington Police Department released a statement about the incident shortly before 4 p.m. Thursday.
“Washington Police Department is limited in the information it can release about the current location of Mr. Gautier. After the situation from yesterday was resolved he was transported to Beaufort County Medical Center. No further details can be released about his medical situation. Investigation into the incident is ongoing and charges will be completed upon consultation with the D.A. and other entities. Washington Police Department would like to thank all of the assisting agencies (Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, NC State Bureau of Investigation, Washington Fire/Rescue/EMS, A.L.E. and Washington Utilities, as well as the local residents, and media for their cooperation which lead to a peaceful resolution to the events on Wednesday,” the statement reads.
Gautier’s father, Robert Gautier, visited his son briefly Wednesday night, but he was not allowed back into the younger Gautier’s room until Thursday afternoon, according to various media sources.
Gautier was holed up in a house containing numerous weapons on East 12th Street for about nine hours Wednesday. He fired two rounds during the standoff, but they apparently did not harm anyone, according to police.
“The SBI team did sweep the area at the specific request of the chief based on the numerous conversations that took place,” police Lt. William Chrismon replied in an email to the Washington Daily News, which emailed several questions regarding the incident to him.
Asked if Gautier made any demands, Chrismon replied, “I am not comfortable detailing the demands, other than to say we were unable to comply.”
Chrismon said WPD officers are trained to handle such situations.
“We train annually for various types of scenarios, however nothing is ever as planned and no two situations are alike,” he wrote in the email. “This was undoubtedly a very unusual situation that all you can do is have resources available to aid us in a peaceful resolution such as yesterday. We are all trained to try hard not to overreact, and the overriding objective is to base our reaction to each individual situation as it evolves.”
Chrismon further discussed the incident.
“This was a very unfortunate situation which, with the assistance of other agencies and cooperation of the surrounding citizens time was on our side and we came to a peaceful safe resolution without anyone getting hurt,” he wrote in the email.  “It was a situation where there is no perfect answer, but it was created by the individual and could have been resolved at any time by him just being willing to comply with our efforts to protect the neighborhood and our officers.”
Mayor Archie Jennings, during a brief encounter with a Washington Daily News reporter Wednesday night, said Washington City Council member Doug Mercer was involved, to some degree, with the helping bring an end to the standoff. Mercer declined to discuss his role, but he did discuss the police department’s handling of the situation.
“They brought it to a successful conclusion and no one got hurt, which is what you want,” Mercer said in a brief telephone interview Thursday.
Taking Gautier to the hospital for evaluation immediately after he was taken into custody was the proper move to make, Mercer said.
The standoff began around 8 a.m. Wednesday and ended about 4:45 p.m. just before rush hour.
Gautier placed a call to the police telecommunications center early Wednesday morning, according to police Chief Mick Reed. Gautier “expressed some displeasure over some issues regarding his environment,” Reed said Wednesday afternoon, adding these issues did not involve law enforcement or the City of Washington.
One man at the scene, Carter Leary, a relative of Gautier, was taken away in a marked car belonging to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office. Leary was charged with resisting a public officer and detained in the Beaufort County Detention Center on Wednesday, according to an officer there. Leary had been released from the jail by Thursday afternoon.
Leary lives near the house where Gautier was holed up, according to residents in the area.