Too often, events like the one Tuesday in Lewiston end in tragedy.

An armed man, distraught over the turns in his life, runs from police, holds a gun to his head and jeopardizes the staff and patients at a hospital. Dozens of cops, with their own weapons drawn, surround the man, looking to minimize the danger to innocent people caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A small movement – a twitch, a misinterpreted signal – and somebody ends up dead.

Edward Leo Fitzherbert, 61, held police at bay outside of St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, Tuesday morning. He was supposed to be in court to face charges of gross sexual assault, assault and unlawful sexual contact. All the charges involved a girl younger than 14.

When police went looking for Fitzherbert, he took off.

It’s impossible to understand the pressure put on police officers when they are forced to draw their weapons and point them at someone who is also armed. A single mistake by any number of people could have set off a deadly chain reaction and an exchange of gunfire.

In November, a Brunswick police officer and Sagadahoc County sheriff’s deputy killed a man after a car chase and gunfight. The Attorney General’s Office found the shooting justified. In January, a 15-year-old boy was shot and killed by a police in Orlando after brandishing a pellet gun that closely resembled the real thing. And in December, a man with a history of mental illness was killed by federal air marshals because the officers believed the man had a bomb.

The Lewiston Police Department, state police and Androscoggin sheriff’s deputies at the scene showed great professionalism and restraint, which is exactly what we expect from them.

Things could have gone very badly. They didn’t because the police didn’t allow that to happen.