Man accused of shooting cop to have mental health hearing
WOONSOCKET – The man accused of shooting Patrolman Travis Young in the thigh on July 2 has been transferred from the state prison to a psychiatric hospital for a mental health evaluation.
Tyler Chandler, 22, of Portsmouth, was transferred to the custody of the Eleanor Slater Hospital for the purpose of compiling a competency report that was ordered by District Court Judge Christine S. Jabour, according to Craig Berke, a spokesman for the judiciary.
A hearing on the report will be held in Jabour’ s courtroom on Tuesday.
It’s unclear whether the judge ordered the competency hearing on her own or at the request of his attorney, Collin Geiselman.
Chandler allegedly traded gunfire with four city police officers after an episode that began when one of them saw him walking on Cumberland Street, casually toting a handgun, shortly before dawn on July 2.
Police say Chandler fired multiple rounds at officers during a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse that lasted for hours. He began firing at officers after police flushed him out of a hiding spot behind a Dumpster on Cumberland Street, before he managed to vanish into a patch of woods for a time. Officer Young was wounded during a second volley with Chandler that began after he emerged from the shrubs and the suspect made a dash for the parking lot of the Gateway Commons condo complex at 685 Social St.
Chandler holed up there, crouched between parked cars, for about two hours during a standoff that involved members of the SWAT team and numerous state and local police officers. He was captured after police set off two percussion grenades in the lot to distract Chandler before rushing him.
Chandler is facing six counts of assault with a deadly weapon, a firearm; five counts of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence; and possession of a pistol without a permit.
Meanwhile, Young remains listed as injured on duty and has not returned to work. Detective Capt. Michael Lemoine, however, says Young’s intention is to resume working as soon as he is medically cleared to do so.
A 2017 graduate of the Rhode Island Municipal Police Training Academy, Young has been a member of the Woonsocket Police Department for less than eight months.