ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 3, 1996 TAG: 9602050069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
A man armed with a loaded gun, who said he needed Gov. George Allen's help, was arrested Friday at the gate of the Executive Mansion and taken to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation.
Col. Lonnie Craig, superintendent of the Capitol Police, said Allen was never in danger. The governor was in the mansion with his wife and two children at the time of the incident.
No charges were filed immediately against Tineen Howard, 25, of East Orange, N.J. ``I think it's more a situation calling for treatment,'' Craig said.
Allen dismissed the incident, saying ``these sorts of things happen from time to time.'' His daughter, Tyler, 7, and son, Forrest, 4, were outside playing in the snow earlier in the morning, Allen said.
``My first concern was where were the children,'' he said. ``They could easily have been out saucering or sledding.''
Craig said Howard drove the wrong way down a city street and onto the Capitol grounds, ignoring a police officer's attempts to wave him to stop. The man told an officer at the closed mansion gate he had a gun.
Police dragged Howard from his red Plymouth Laser and found a .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol between the driver's seat and the transmission console. Police questioned Howard and took him to Metropolitan Hospital for a 72-hour evaluation.
``He said, `I need help and what better place to get help than from the governor,''' Craig said. Asked what type of help Howard wanted, Craig said, ``I assume it was for an emotional problem.''
Howard stood rigidly and wailed ``ahhhh'' as police forced him into an unmarked police car. At one point he yelled, ``I told the officer I had a gun.'' He also shouted twice, ``I'm a college graduate.''
Virginia State University spokeswoman Lisa Katz said a 1993 yearbook pictured Howard, but she could not confirm whether he graduated. The school was closed because of snow.
Craig described Howard as ``disoriented and confused,'' but he did not know whether the man was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
One of the officers who helped arrest Howard was Col. Wayne Huggins, superintendent of the Virginia State Police, who had been attending a meeting at the General Assembly Building on Capitol Square.
Huggins said he was scraping snow off his windshield when Howard drove past him, splashing slush on his pants leg. He turned in time to see Howard drive past an arm-waving Capitol Police officer and around the front of the Capitol. Huggins drove around the back of the building to cut off Howard and found Capitol Police taking him into custody.
The officer who confiscated the gun said it was in plain sight, Huggins said. A loaded magazine was in the pistol, but there was no round in the chamber. Howard never picked up the gun, and police said they did not believe any gun laws were broken.
``He never acted in a threatening way,'' Craig said.
Allen said the incident has not made him rethink his anti-gun-control stance. He also said security at the Capitol is adequate.
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Police arrest Tineen Howard, who had a semiautomaticby CNBpistol in his car. The photograph is of a televised image. color.