Police Report: Taser Used to Prevent Suicide

(Lt. William Wilson, Ferndale Police Department, 9/27/2011)

On 09/27/11 at about 2:00 A.M. Ferndale officers were dispatched to a report of an armed suicidal man leaving a care center for closed head injury patients. The man was said to be walking on Wanda and carrying a knife. Officers arrived in the area and encountered the 52 year old man on Silman St. near Wanda. The man was sharpening the knife blade on the sidewalk. When an officer approached, the man faced the officer and refused to drop the knife. A second officer arrived at the scene. The man refused to drop the knife or listen to the officers. It appeared as if he may attack the officers. The man then began to use the knife to slash his own arm. One officer shot the man with a Taser. The man fell to the ground, but still had the knife. With the taser activated, the second officer approached the man and was able to remove the knife from his hand.

The suicidal man was then transported to Willam Beaumont Hospital for treatment.

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