Armed man prompts Albany Bulb closure
A photograph of the area showed rows of emergency vehicles blocking the entrance on Buchanan Street.
Police closed access to the Albany Bulb on Monday night while responding to a man with a gun who was reportedly experiencing a mental health crisis.
The heavy response drew questions from Scanner readers.
One woman described a large police presence on Buchanan Street just west of the freeway overpass.
"It looked like access to the Bulb was closed," she said.
A photograph of the area showed rows of emergency vehicles blocking the street.
The city said Albany police were initially alerted by El Cerrito police about a "possibly armed subject" in the area at about 5:50 p.m.
Officers from Albany and the East Bay Regional Park District found the subject's vehicle at the Bulb and blocked access at Buchanan "to keep the public out of harm's way," the city said in a prepared statement.
The man was ultimately detained. Police recovered a firearm at the scene, according to the statement.
"This was an isolated incident and no injuries were reported," the city said.
The following details were drawn from publicly available firefighter radio dispatches.
The man was experiencing a mental health crisis when authorities responded.
East Bay Parks asked Albany firefighters to park nearby in case they were needed.
Firefighters waited more than an hour for the situation to resolve.
A dispatcher released firefighters at about 7:20 p.m. and told them police planned to call the county's Mobile Crisis Team.
Twenty minutes later, police called firefighters back to the scene for a medical assessment.
Albany Scanner has asked for more information and will update this story if it is provided.
Update, 4:30 p.m. The roadway reopened to the public at about 8 p.m.
Citing privacy concerns, police said no other details would be released given that no arrest was made.
- Alameda County 24-hour crisis line: 800-309-2131
- Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: 988
- Albany CARES: 510-559-4589
- More mental health resources in Alameda County
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