NC Senate Candidate Arrested After Armed Standoff with Cary Police
Jonathan D. Miller, Libertarian nominee for a North Carolina state Senate seat, was arrested Monday after a hours-long standoff with Cary police following suicidal posts on X.
Libertarian Senate Nominee Taken Into Custody After Hours Fleeing Cary Police
Jonathan D. Miller, the Libertarian Party nominee for a North Carolina state Senate seat covering much of Cary and western Wake County, was arrested Monday afternoon following a hours-long armed standoff with Cary police, wral.com reports. The incident began Sunday night with a series of posts on X — formerly Twitter — in which Miller expressed suicidal thoughts and made apparent references to seeking armed confrontations with law enforcement.
Officers from the Cary Police Department conducted a welfare check at Miller's home on Glen Echo Lane, just off Kildaire Farm Road, at approximately 8:26 a.m. Monday morning after monitoring his social media posts overnight. When officers approached him, Miller was carrying a holstered revolver. Police ordered him not to touch the firearm; he refused and fled into nearby woods.
"He had a firearm and was ordered not to touch it, and he took off running," Cary police chief Terry Sult said at a Monday news conference. Miller was eventually taken into custody near the Lochmere neighbourhood at around 3 p.m. Police confirmed no injuries occurred during the standoff. Resurrection Lutheran School, a private school near the standoff location, was placed under a code yellow lockdown for part of the day.
Among the posts on Miller's X account, one read: "The whole police department is chasing me with guns drawn. This should be fun." Another stated: "I've got six shots and the high ground. I hope they don't find me, but if they do it's going to be a hell of a show." Chase Oliver, the Libertarian Party's 2024 presidential nominee, was among those who responded to Miller's posts, urging him not to harm himself or engage police.
While still evading officers, Miller called WRAL multiple times to give his account of events and offer criticism of the Cary Police Department. In one call, he described the night before: "Last night I was pretty depressed and suicidal, and I sort of put a suicide note on X, and it has gone quite viral. Actually, millions of people have seen it. I usually get about 50 views on my post, but this one has gone super viral on me. I spent all night crying, and angry, and upset, and depressed, and all the emotions. And this morning I was tired, but I had things I needed to do. And I didn't kill myself."
Miller went on to describe the moment police first approached him that morning: "So I got up and made coffee, and I had two sips of coffee, and I went outside to have a cigarette, and while I was having a cigarette, a police officer approached me, knew my name, saw that I had a holstered revolver on my hip, so he drew his weapon and told me to keep my hands away from mine. I told him I was going to refuse that order, and I backed away slowly until I was far enough away from him to turn and run, and then I turned and ran into the woods."
On why he chose to contact the news outlet, Miller was direct: "I figured this story was probably going to make the news, so I thought you might have some questions for me." Asked whether he was hurt, he responded: "No. Not yet." When asked why he was hiding, Miller said he did not want to be hospitalised, expressing scepticism about the care he would receive. "If I go to the hospital, I'll spend approximately 15 to 30 seconds every day with a doctor, and that'll be my time to talk it out," he told WRAL. "He'll write me a [prescription] for a drug that doesn't help, and in a few days I'll be right back where I'm at now."
As officers closed in, Miller described the pursuit: "I've been running around into the woods all day. You know, sometimes I can see them, sometimes I can hear them. So they're close, but they can't find me." He also offered a pointed assessment of law enforcement's tracking abilities: "They have been chasing me since this morning. They're not very good at it. They really probably should get some more training on tracking somebody down." At one point he said he was hoping to "wait them out and then disappear and never come back to Cary."
After Miller's arrest, Chief Sult thanked WRAL for receiving his calls and cooperating with police. "We were able to coach whoever was talking to him a little bit, and we were able to monitor that conversation with the permission of WRAL," Sult said. "It gave us some additional insight, very consistent with what we were dealing with. It bridged the gap."
Miller is a candidate for the seat currently held by Democratic Senator Gale Adcock. Republican nominee Philip Hensley is also in the race.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, call or text 988, or contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)