Son’s ‘suicide by police’ in Liberty stirs father’s despair over mental health system

One by one, the friends who came to Eric Richards’ funeral picked up one of the tiny corked bottles filled with his ashes.

Richards’ father, who created the small array of vials, knows that there is no getting around the terrible news of how his son died at 33.

He was gunned down by Liberty police and Clay County deputies Aug. 4 after he opened fire with a rifle on officers whom he summoned with a threatening call to 911 — a shooting that prosecutors announced Thursday was justified.

But when someone sees one of those little bottles sitting on a shelf, or fingers come across it in a drawer, “maybe they will think something good about him,” Calvin Richards said.

Maybe they’ll remember the young man before he swiftly fell into dangerous depression.

And maybe they’ll join in feeling some concern over a struggling mental health system and the way people too often shun, or are unaware of, those who are suffering.

They can help the father find answers to his frustration after his son was taken to a hospital mental health ward in St. Joseph and then walked out after about eight hours one week before his gun fight with police.

“They will remember him,” Calvin Richards said, “and then he won’t die for nothing.”

Eric Richards’ family carries no anger at the officers who shot him. They are sorry for what the officers had to endure, Calvin Richards said.

“My son was suicidal,” he said. “I think it was suicide by police officer.”

Calvin Richards spoke by phone from his home on wide-open land in the small farming community of Denver, Mo., near the Iowa border.

His son had come up to the farm to live in a trailer, hoping to get some peace from a divorce and a lost job in Kansas City that were weighing on him.

Maybe the young man who had loved to hunt and fish and camp would find some comfort there.

Eric Richards had been raised among older brothers and their friends, said Phillip Coonce, the pastor of Moment of Truth Bible Baptist Church, which opened its doors for Richards’ funeral.

Coonce was a childhood friend of one of the older brothers, and thought of Eric Richards like a little brother. He remembered him for his inexhaustible energy, wanting to keep the older boys out throwing a football even as it grew too dark to even see your hands.

“He was so competitive,” Coonce said. “He was a good man.”

Coonce feels like he learned too late about Richards’ depression. They had lost touch recently and Coonce urged Richards’ brother to tell him to call.

One of Richards’ friends out of state had a conversation with him disturbing enough that he called the Gentry County Sheriff’s Office about a week before Richards’ died. A deputy came out to see him.

The deputy tried to help, Calvin Richards said. Eric described to the deputy his suicidal thoughts and plans. And he agreed to go with the deputy to a St. Joseph hospital.

Calvin Richards thought his son was going to be there four days. But apparently an application for an up-to-96-hour civil involuntary detention did not occur. Eric Richards called his father about eight hours later, asking him to come get him.

Calvin Richards called the hospital, but since his son was an independent adult, no one could share any information.

The Missouri Department of Mental Health can provide information on how to obtain civil commitments at www.dmh.mo.gov, and there is 24-hour crisis help on the national suicide prevention hotline, 800-273-TALK (8255).

“I tried to talk to him,” Calvin Richards said. “We talked about the people they (in suicide) leave behind. It’s tragic for friends and family and all. He said the right things.”

Going into the weekend of Aug. 4, Eric Richards said he was going back down to Kansas City. His father thought it might help him to get back to some of his friends there.

But according to police, Richards called police dispatch at 6:38 p.m. and threatened a mass shooting and suicide. Liberty police and Clay County sheriff’s deputies went to the 1000 block of Highland Drive and were attempting to communicate with Richards when police said he immediately opened fire with a rifle.

The Northland Officer Involved Shooting Investigation Team reviewed the case and the Clay County Prosecutor’s Office said Thursday that the officers were “legally justified to protect themselves and the public.”

“It hurts a lot,” the father said. “He had a lot of friends. A lot of people were stunned and shocked.”

Coonce has one of those tiny bottles of ashes. It is sitting on a bookshelf in his church office.

“I want to talk to him,” he said. “I want to tell him how much the Lord Jesus Christ loves him.”

People shouldn’t wait to call on their friends and family. We should ask on each other, Coonce said.

“We need to be patient and willing and kind — and ready to help.”

That’s what Calvin Richards wants.

“I’m concerned about the next person like my son,” he said, “who wants help.”

This story was originally published August 31, 2018 at 5:30 AM.