METHUEN — Officers Shaun Cronin and James Moore were inching their way down a narrow, second-floor hallway toward Darren Coco's bedroom, when they heard the unmistakable sound of a pump action shotgun racking a round into the chamber.
When they arrived at the house, the children, ages 13 and 15, told them their father was upstairs in his bedroom.
The officers retreated down the hallway and stairs, where they grabbed Coco's two children and removed them from the house, sending them to a neighbor's home before taking cover behind two trees and calling for backup, as Coco, 41, aimed the shotgun at them.
The officers yelled at Coco that his children were there and that he did not want to do that and he lowered the weapon, according to police reports filed yesterday in Lawrence District Court, where Coco was arraigned on several gun-related charges stemming from a standoff with police that lasted more than three hours Tuesday.
He is charged with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon (a shotgun), possession of a firearm without a firearms identification card, possession of ammunition without a firearms identification card, and disturbing the peace.
Judge Mark Sullivan ordered Coco held without bail and sent him to Bridgewater State Hospital to detox, pending his return to court Feb. 5.
No mention was made in open court yesterday about the death by an apparent heart attack of Coco's mother, Virginia Coco, 69, who was rushed to Holy Family Hospital about an hour after her son surrendered. She had been at the scene, where she took part in trying to coax her son to surrender.
Prosecutor Janelle Amadon told the court yesterday that she will seek a dangerousness hearing to determine if Coco poses a threat to the community and should remain locked up.
Court documents and testimony at yesterday's hearing described a man troubled by alcohol, drugs and psychological problems that Darren Coco blames on military service.
During an evaluation at Holy Family Hospital after his arrest, Coco told doctors that he suffers from Gulf War syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder, and that he had taken Klonopin during the day.
"He shouldn't be drinking at all," court psychologist Dr. Alexandra Weider told Judge Sullivan.
"He is at risk of an overdose," said Weider, who had recommended Coco's court-ordered stay at Bridgewater State Hospital after evaluating him.
Weider told the judge that Coco was taking a variety of medications — some of which were opiates — and had admitted to mixing them with alcohol, particularly beer and vodka.
Methuen police dispatcher Shelley Coco considered her husband's behavior threatening enough that she called a police commander, requesting that he be removed from their home at 5 Peever St.
Police responded quickly to Shelley Coco's 4:30 p.m. call that her husband had been drinking and was yelling and screaming.
Shelley Coco had left her house by the time officers Cronin and Moore arrived. Later, she declined a police offer to seek an emergency restraining order against her husband, who is listed as "disabled" in the city's street list.
Police have filed a child endangerment report with the state's Department of Children and Families.
After pointing a loaded shotgun at the officers, the domestic disturbance escalated into a major police incident that involved the evacuation of about 20 people from their homes and several streets in the surrounding neighborhood were blocked off as a precaution.
In addition, the North East Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council's SWAT team was called. After several hours, the SWAT team entered the house and arrested Coco without a shot being fired.
But from evidence police gathered from his house, the potential was there for a gunfight with the SWAT team.
From the upstairs bedroom, police recovered a Mossberg .12-gauge shotgun loaded with eight rounds and one in the chamber. They also seized a green canvas bag with 10 boxes of assorted shotgun shells, and recovered two notes "consistent with suicidal behavior," according to the police report.
Attorney Geoffrey Dubosque is representing Coco.
Shelley Coco was at her husband's arraignment, but declined to comment to a reporter.
