Judge orders Cape Coral man mental evaluation after bomb threat

There are still many questions surrounding what motivated a man in Cape Coral to threaten a judge.

A judge ordered William Seyfried to have a mental evaluation Wednesday. This comes after Seyfried threatened a judge on Facebook Live, which then lead a bomb squad to search his home.

“I didn’t think it was going to be this bad, but we knew something was going to happen,” said Mary Seyfried, Seyfried’s mother.

Seyfried’s mother believes her son’s actions are signs of mental illness. Seyfried had refused a mental evaluation in the past.

Mental health counselor Dr. Laura Streyffeler said there isn’t anything legally families can do to force someone they love to get help or get checked out. They can take action only when there is an immediate threat to themselves or to others.

“We see it with both mental health and substance abuse,” Streyffeller said. “When you really want more for somebody than they want for themselves.”

The Seyfried family said they tried to get William checked out for years without any help from him or the court.

“Unless they’re threatening or there’s imminent danger to somebody, that’s just the way it is,” Streyffeller said.

Streyffeler believes Seyfried’s post and comments claiming the police are out to get him are forms of psychosis.

“Instead of judging it, think of how painful it must be to think that somebody’s after you, and they’re going to go get you,” Streyffeler said.

Seyfried remains in Lee County jail on $465,000 bond.

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“I just want people to get out there and start talking about mental health in this country,” Mary said. “I mean most of these terrible things that are happening are mental health, and we’re just not getting the care.”