Former pro football player with history of CTE charged after armed standoff in Royal Oak

FOX 2 (WJBK) - Jonathan McCall — the Royal Oak man who barricaded himself in his home with his wife and two children inside — has been charged.

McCall is facing one count of domestic spousal assault and one count of assault and battery in connection to the standoff in the area of N. Campbell Road and Whitcomb Monday night.

"Whoever he was telling get the hell out of the house, he said it twice. And I turned the corner, I'm like oh 'I hope this doesn’t escalate,'" said Sean Hampson, a neighbor.

McCall held police at bay for several hours. But ultimately, the situation was resolved peacefully.

In 2017, McCall was featured on FOX 2 in a story about his struggles with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) — a degenerative brain disease that has been linked to repeated blows to the head.

McCall played football for Central Michigan and then played in the Arena Football League for seven years, including a stint with the Detroit Fury.

"I think I’ve had maybe about 100 concussions," McCall told Dave Spencer in 2017. "I was doing unsafe behaviors, like taking knives, cutting on my hand."

Dr. Peter Lewitt, a neurologist with DMC, said McCall's CTE is most likely "a consequence of regular head battering that is part of the training and game-play experience of American football."

During Monday night’s standoff, police tried to talk to McCall — but they said he was having a mental health crisis and refused to come out of the home.

Related: Former pro football player battling CTE, warns others not to ignore symptoms

"It was pretty intense. We had cops standing behind trees, behind cars. They were all over the place," said Paul Hampson, another neighbor.

When police made their way into the home, McCall was wearing a bulletproof vest — he suffered minor injuries after police tasered him.

They also confiscated long guns that the suspect recently purchased. Officers were able to do so, because of the newly passed red flag law.

Judge Lisa Langton of the Oakland County Circuit Court Family Division, approved the emergency order.

"The crux of it is, is this individual an immediate risk of harm to themselves or others?" she said. "And if the answer is yes, and everything else is complied with, then there is a possibility that the police will be able to save that individual, and last night, kids and mom in the house, too. Sad."

Meanwhile, neighbors say they were aware of McCall’s CTE.

"One minute he’s a super good guy and then he has issues, you know," Sean Hampson said.

"I just feel so sorry because they’ve been through a lot of tough times," Paul Hampson added.

Neighbors claim that police have been called to McCall's home at least three times before Monday night's incident.