Syracuse (WSYR-TV) – A man shot by police while wielding a wooden sword in a Catherine Street home is “not competent to stand trial,” according to a judge.
Judge Donald Todd reported the result of a psychiatric evaluation of 49-year-old Ralph Ash, 641 Catherine St., on Wednesday.
In December, Syracuse Police responded to a domestic incident at Ash’s home. En route to the scene, they were advised that Ash had a history of mental problems and had been violent toward police.
When they confronted Ash in a bedroom, he brandished what appeared to be a sword. Police later discovered the weapon was a wooden stick used for martial arts.
Police tried to take Ash to a hospital for mental evaluation but he resisted, shaking an officer off.
An officer tried to subdue Ash using a taser, but it had no effect. Ash then began swinging at the officers, who responded by firing their guns.
A grand jury determined that the officers' use of firearms was justified.
Ash has been charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree and also menacing.
The judge said that two doctors who evaluated Ash determined that he was not mentally competent to understand the charges against him. The case was adjourned until May.
