Police in Michigan arrested a former professional Arena Football player suffering from CTE after an alleged armed standoff with officers Monday night, FOX2 reported.
Jonathan McCall allegedly barricaded himself, his wife and two children inside his home for several hours while police attempted to resolve the standoff peacefully, according to FOX2.
McCall, who played football at Central Michigan before embarking on a seven-year career in the Arena Football League (AFL), was featured in a 2017 FOX2 story regarding his struggles with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease linked to head injuries. (RELATED: Father Of Former NFL Player Who Reportedly Shot Six People Before Killing Himself Sue University Over Untreated CTE)
Former pro football player with history of CTE charged after armed standoff in Royal Oak https://t.co/ktd6jQF49d pic.twitter.com/M1OhcicthB
— FOX 2 Detroit (@FOX2News) March 27, 2024
“I think I’ve had maybe about 100 concussions,” McCall told FOX2 in 2017. “I was doing unsafe behaviors, like taking knives, cutting on my hand.”
Dr. Peter Lewitt told FOX2 that McCall’s condition is most likely “a consequence of regular head battering that is part of the training and game-play experience of American football.”
“It was pretty intense,” neighbor Paul Hampson said, describing the alleged standoff, according to Fox2. “We had cops standing behind trees, behind cars. They were all over the place.”
After entering McCall’s home, police allegedly found him in a bulletproof vest before hitting him with a taser and confiscating long guns that he had allegedly recently acquired, FOX2 reported.
“The crux of it is, is this individual an immediate risk of harm to themselves or others?” Judge Lisa Lawton, who approved the emergency order, said. “And if the answer is yes, and everything else is complied with, then there is a possibility that the police will be able to save that individual, and last night, kids and mom in the house, too. Sad.”
Neighbors were apparently aware of McCall’s struggles with CTE, one telling FOX2, “One minute he’s a super good guy and then he has issues.”
McCall faces one count of domestic spousal assault and one count of assault and battery, FOX2 reported.