NYC police officer alerted police in Madison after spotting threatening Periscope video

NEW YORK -- A quick-thinking, off-duty New York police officer helped prevent a potentially deadly situation in Madison over the weekend.

"I was off-duty on Saturday morning, (August 6th), late in the morning. I happened to be on my phone," NYPD officer Gregory Santora said.

He just happened to be on the live-streaming app, Periscope.

"The hastag was 'Police killed my brother RIP Tony Robinson I'm going to lose it,'" Santora said.

The title caught the 14-year veteran's eye.

"I saw an individual who appeared to me emotionally distraught. He was crying. He was troubled. He was angry. Once he started to arm himself with what appeared to be firearms -- at that point, I realized no sane person can continue to watch this without doing anything. As a police officer, I'm held to a higher standard. I must do something. I had to find a way to contact the MPD," Santora said.

Santora identified himself to Dane County dispatch as an off-duty police officer. After explaining in detail what he saw and eventually emailing screen shots of the video, Madison police officers were notified.

About an hour later, Madison Police Officer Greg Rossetti was approached by a man who called himself Glenn.

"He really approached it as a community caretaker, responding to the individual -- someone in need of some real help," Madison Police Chief Mike Koval said.

Raynarldo Glenn was taken into custody without incident.

"It's just a relief because I expected the worst. When you saw this guy, you know it wasn't going to end good, so the fact that it ended good is just a blessing from God," Santora said.

"In this instance it was coming to look like a scenario based on suicide by cop. The fact that this individual knew full well he has facsimile guns, play guns, knowing that if he pointed this gun at another officer it could very well cost him his life. So I think, yes, a number of lives could have been saved owing to this timely report," Koval said.

As Chief Koval mentioned, officers recovered two BB guns that appeared to look real.

Glenn faced a judge Tuesday, August 9th, on two felony charges:

Cash bond was set at $10,000. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for August 16th.

At one point in the video, Glenn claimed to be the brother of Tony Robinson -- a man killed in an officer-involved shooting in March 2015, but police do not believe he's related to him.

Andrea Irwin, the mother of Tony Robinson, expressed in a statement that she is in no way related to Glenn, and she was not involved with his alleged plot.

Chief Koval called Santora and thanked him for all of his help. He also sent an accolade to his commanding officer.