TAYLOR, Mich. – When police responded to a domestic violence call at an apartment last month, they encountered a suicidal man with a knife who was threatening to harm himself.
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As a woman ran from the home on Jan. 27, officers talked to the man, who had cut himself on his shoulders and face. He was hiding in a kitchen pantry covered in blood.
That encounter was caught on body cameras.
The officers asked the man, who said he was 27, to open the door so they could talk to him. The man said he wanted to talk to a sergeant and opened the doors as officers tried to get him to come out of the pantry and put the knife down.
He refused and told police to shoot him in the head.
One of the officers deployed a Taser so officers could get the knife away from the man and transport him to a hospital. Other than the self-inflicted wounds, no one else was injured, police said.
The police department shared the footage from a body camera to show how the officers were able to deescalate the situation with minimal force.
More than a year ago, the police department purchased 70 body cameras and 40 tasers.
“Without a taser in that situation obviously it can become deadly,” said Lt. Jason Hall.