Troubled history of S.F. suspect in standoff

Cops had seized guns, put man on psychiatric hold

Less than two months before a San Francisco man allegedly killed his mother and engaged authorities in a 15-hour standoff, city police officers placed him on an involuntary psychiatric hold and seized a cache of guns and ammunition from him, including an AK-47 assault rifle, records show.

The suspect, 52-year-old former security guard Thomas Ragsdale, was jailed in the earlier case on suspicion of illegal weapons possession after a brief stint in psychiatric care.

But prosecutors did not file charges, and Ragsdale returned to his home on 15th Street near Corona Heights Park, where he purportedly shot his mother in the back Sunday before shooting and wounding himself hours later to end the tense standoff. On Friday, Ragsdale remained in critical condition at San Francisco General Hospital.

The series of events raises questions about

whether San Francisco authorities did enough to protect the victim, 76year-old Martha Alfaro. It may also shed light on two notoriously complicated systems in California: one governing the treatment of people with mental illness, and the other regulating the legal possession of firearms and ammunition.

The district attorney’s office said Friday it did not file charges in the first case because the allegations of illegal weapons possession needed further investigation. The existence of that case was first reported by Mission Local, an online news site.

According to a police report, officers responded to the 15th Street home and discovered the weapons on June 5, after receiving a call from the mother of Ragsdale’s son. The officers reported finding three rifles — including an AK-47 — as well as a shotgun, five handguns, 46 ammunition magazines and nearly 28,000 rounds of ammunition.

The woman who contacted police said she had grown concerned about statements Ragsdale was making about people plotting to kill him and his son. When officers questioned Ragsdale about the threats, records show, he said he heard voices through his bedroom wall, and believed they belonged to his neighbor’s “gang member friends.”

Ragsdale’s neighbor, however, told officers she did not know him, nor did she wish to cause him harm.

Ragsdale’s son’s mother, meanwhile, said Ragsdale’s family had a history of mental illness, and that she was worried he was suffering from paranoid delusions. Ragsdale’s son and Alfaro had echoed the concerns, saying they believed he was hearing voices in his head, police said.

The officers placed Ragsdale on an involuntary psychiatric hold, judging that he was a danger to himself or others, and seized his weapons as prescribed by state law. But they were unable to locate six other firearms registered to Ragsdale, according to the police report.

Under state law, a person can be placed on a 72-hour mental health hold and must be released if they are deemed to be no longer dangerous. Upon Ragsdale’s release from the hospital, city officers booked him into County Jail.

Following the recommendations of investigators in the psychiatric liaison division of the special victims unit, officers arrested him on suspicion of 13 misdemeanor counts of illegal possession of high-capacity ammunition magazines and one felony count of possession of an unregistered assault weapon.

But the district attorney’s office sent the case back to the Police Department, saying prosecutors required further investigation before filing charges.

Though California has prohibited the sale of magazines that hold more than 10 cartridges, and though AK-47s fall under the state’s landmark assault weapons ban, the laws carry a number of exceptions, said Max Szabo, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office.

For instance, assault weapons purchased and registered with the state before April 1992 are grandfathered in and allowed, as are ammunition magazines bought before they were outlawed.

A voter-approved law that was due to take effect this year banning all possession of high-capacity magazines was recently blocked by a federal judge, who said it would violate Californians’ right to defend themselves.

According to the police report, Ragsdale told officers that his AK-47 was a pre-ban weapon, and that he had registered it through the proper channels. The investigating officer wrote that he was unable to determine at the scene if Ragsdale’s AK-47 was a preban weapon, and it was not known Friday whether anyone had followed up.

Police did not provide details about the alleged murder weapon.

But the cache seized in June was still in police custody when authorities said Ragsdale shot Alfaro in the back about 11:45 p.m. Sunday. He allegedly barricaded himself inside the home at 15th and Beaver streets before shooting himself in the chest and then stumbling into police custody at about 2:45 p.m. Monday.

Little is known about Ragsdale, but he is licensed by the state as a security guard, and as recently as last year had permits to carry a gun and a baton.

Officers reported finding three rifles — including an AK-47 — as well as a shotgun, five handguns, 46 ammunition magazines and nearly 28,000 rounds of ammunition.