Kristiana

During the final stage of my first manic episode from bipolar disorder back in the summer of 1995, I was staring down the barrel of a gun — two guns in fact. The Indiana State Police were summoned to apprehend me as there was clearly something wrong. Never mind the trespassing charge — the security guards of the Indianapolis Hoosier Dome were more concerned about the blood on my hands, the bruises and cuts on my face and the fact that I wouldn’t let anyone near me. I was a scary looking dude.

I was holding a knife when the police arrived at the loge entrance and they startled me — everything startled me at this point. My intention was to slice a piece of lime and pour some vodka that sat on the bar. In all my delusions, I had figured that my mission was complete — I had finally reached my destination. From here, I would be shipped off somewhere, never to return, so I might as well have a drink.

That split second of the officer’s command will always be planted in my mind — gunpoint is a dangerous position to be in, and police and military don’t look forward to using it. Luckily, somewhere inside of me, even though I was deep into a manic episode that included voices, hallucinations and delusional thoughts, somewhere I found the capability to reason and I dropped the knife; then I paid a heavy price.

Fast forward 20 years into the town of Longview, Texas which is 2 hours east of Dallas. 17 year old Kristiana Ciognard had recently moved from San Antonio to her Aunt’s in Longview. She was an all around typical kid. She was known to bring her stepmother flowers on a regular basis and she took a liking to extraterrestrial life forms, assuming they exist. Her goal was to get her life together in Longview in anticipation of turning 18. You see, unlike nearly all other teenagers, Kristiana suffered from Bipolar disorder and Depression. Kristiana lost her mother to cancer when she was only 4 years old and had a difficult childhood. There were two suicide attempts and erratic behavior consistent with the illness. Because of the conditions, she had to be strong. It was a lot to place on the shoulders of a kid.

January 22nd started out as a normal day for Kristiana. She and her step mother had exchanged several upbeat text messages and she had even been to therapy for her mental illness that afternoon. All had seemed right in the world for Kristiana that day, and she had overcome so much in her young life.

It was that evening, around 6:30pm that Kristiana walked into the Longview Police Department and picked up the courtesy phone in the lobby.

“Hello, I need help” she said. Then she hung up. Several attempts by the dispatcher to call back were unsuccessful. Finally, she picked up.

“I’m sorry, did you say you need help?” the dispatcher said.

“Yes, I need help.” The line went dead again.

Close to 10 minutes had passed since Kristiana’s arrival at the LPD when a uniformed officer entered the lobby. There was some questioning and, as it turned out, Kristiana may have brandished a large knife. The officer’s training took over and within seconds, he had Kristiana pinned on a bench, trying to restrain her it appeared. Moments later, the officer let Kristiana up from the bench — no restraints or handcuffs — just her word that she wouldn’t cause anymore alarm. Then, with a stiff arm over the throat, he slams her to the floor. Here was yet another opportunity to handcuff her but it never happened.

Two more uniformed officers appear in the lobby and the original officer lets Kristiana back onto her feet yet again. He then backs off of her with his weapon drawn. Kristiana panics and takes chase after him. There is still speculation whether the officers had in fact disarmed her and handcuffed her but once she took off running, two of the officers discharged 5 rounds into Kristiana’s petite 17 year old frame.

You can watch it here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21WqaDzztGk, but CAUTION: graphic material.

So, looking at it in sequence, the original officer on the scene had at least 3 opportunities to subdue/restrain Kristiana until further investigating could lead them to the root of the matter which was mental illness — she was seeking help — she even said so. Now, in defense of the officers, I can’t imagine that if you woke them up that day and told them that they were going to have to kill a teenage girl later that they wouldn’t consider surrendering their badge. After all, they may have a teenager at home themselves and their lives are dedicated to serve and protect, they’re not evil like some people try to accuse them of being.

20 years separates Kristiana’s crisis with mine but there were similarities. We both had reached a point where we knew we needed help but we were suffering from an illness — scared, delusional and paranoid — hence the knife. Both incidents involved police. We were both given commands to which we followed. Mine was to drop a knife and put my hands up. Hers, we’re not sure of because of the lack of audio but you can see that the officer has her pinned upon a bench in the lobby of the police station.

It could have ended there.

It could have been the beginning of treatment for her illness.

Instead, they let her up, further escalating the encounter and then drawing their weapons and killing her.

In some articles about this tragedy, there is speculation that the officers involved had been through what is known as Crisis Intervention Training. CIT is a program that many cities around the country have adopted and have officers complete in an effort to deescalate situations where a person suffering from a mental illness or developmental disability can get the necessary help that they need.

Founded in Memphis in 1988, CIT was meant to create teams of first responders who were trained in areas of mental health crises. In the words of former Memphis Police Major Sam Cochran, “Suicide attempts and mental health crisis concerns are recognized as a priority. Crises are about people, about our community, our families, our friends, our loved ones. CIT is founded on principles of dignity, understanding, kindness, hope and dedication.” From its inception, it sounds like a program filled with promise and one that will ultimately save lives.

Now, according to Kristian Brian, spokesperson for the LPD, the 3 officers involved had been through CIT training in recent years. I suppose the question is, when does an officer decide to apply the knowledge and experience that he or she gained through CIT? An officer can’t always make the determination if someone is in a mental health crisis, especially in a matter of seconds. But determining that the person in question is in their youth, asking for help, and at the police station, certainly this is an incident to not take lightly. If the first responder, who was a uniformed officer, entered the lobby and disregarded any of these facts, then it starts to become clear why there was a struggle in the first place.

I am not going to tell a police officer how to do his or her job but we have a dead teenager here, one who battled a vicious disease and nearly took her own life on two separate occasions. Kristiana allegedly had written “I have a gun” on her hand but she was apprehended and frisked by the first responding officer — she should have been disarmed, subdued, and restrained. Of course, it’s not that simple and until the Texas Ranger’s investigation is complete (without any discrimination towards Kristiana living with a mental illness), we won’t really know how it all went down.

My hope is that those that read about Kristiana will get a clearer understanding of how difficult it can be to live with a mental illness. Kristiana lost her mother to cancer when she was just 4 years old and then she develops Bipolar disorder, only to be shot and killed by CIT trained police when she was just 17. That is quite a tragic life and one that should have continued.

The officers had Kristiana restrained 3 times and each time let her up. If they had used whatever means necessary to subdue her and then have someone sedate her, she could’ve been in a hospital setting before midnight. During my scuffle, I had been out of the Army for about 3 months, I weighed 220 lbs and I was much stronger and more difficult to take down than a 17 year old kid.

However, we don’t know what events or thoughts led Kristiana to make the choice that she did (or if there was a choice at all) or if she were suffering from a manic episode. One of the tragedies of a death like this is all the uncertainty and unanswered questions. But, instead of asking “Who’s to blame?” we should be asking “How could this have been prevented?” As for the public, it’s important to realize that people with an illness like Bipolar disorder aren’t just homeless junkies and unshaven grown men like the media tries to portray — they’re even 17 year old kids who might live in your neighborhood. Rest In Peace, Kristiana.