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Police: Son Threatens To Shoot Parents, Forces Mom To Jump Out Window

PELHAM, N.H. (CBS) – A New Hampshire couple hopes their son gets the help he needs after a terrifying incident with him at their home.

Pelham Police were called to Roger Lavasseer's house on Currier Road Monday afternoon because his son, 37-year-old Justin Lavasseur, pointed a large revolver at his parents and said he was going to shoot them.

Roger said he quickly shut the bedroom door on his son. "I just closed the door and blocked it and did all I could," he said. He held the door long enough for his wife to jump out a first-floor window, breaking her wrist in two places as she fell.

"I seen her going out the window. I thought, she'll be safe. I thought that was the end for me," he told WBZ-TV Tuesday. "I wonder how come I'm standing here now."

But his son ran out the back door and Roger Lavasseur ran out the front door. Roger called police and a standoff began.  It lasted nearly four hours before Justin finally gave up.

Levasseur was charged with simple assault, criminal threatening with a deadly weapon, reckless conduct with a deadly weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was held on $100,000 bail following his arraignment Tuesday in Hillsborough County Superior Court.

Justin Levasseur
Justin Levasseur. (Photo credit: Pelham, NH Police)

"He's been sick for a long time," said Roger. "Justin had a mental problem for years, for years, it just came to a head."

Roger said the incident was "devastating."

"We were on the phone this morning with my daughter, my brother, my sister. We have to deal with it and we will heal. It will take time."

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