NEWS

Officers subdue suicidal subject

David Frownfelder Daily Telegram Staff Writer

A man threatening to kill himself was subdued by Tecumseh police officers using a stun gun before he was disarmed.

The incident occurred at 10 a.m. June 26 when officers were called to a report of a domestic disturbance at a house on South Union Street. Officers were told the 25-year-old Ypsilanti man had just been released from jail and had been drinking. Occupants of the home were trying to get him to leave when the man grabbed a lawn decoration and hit one of the occupants several times in the head before running into the basement and closing the door. Police were told that guns were kept in the basement.

Officers opened the basement door and yelled for the suspect to come out unarmed. However, the man refused, saying he wanted to die.

Eventually he threw a rifle to the bottom of the stairs, but as he approached officers, he picked it up, and pointed it and a second rifle in the direction of the officers. After several warnings, one of the officers shot the suspect with a stun gun, the disarmed and handcuffed him.

The man was taken to ProMedica Herrick Hospital for an examination and a blood draw. A preliminary breath test measured his blood-alcohol level at 0.235.

The man was transferred to a mental health facility in Grand Rapids, and the case was turned over to the Lenawee County Prosecutor’s Office. No determination of charges has been made.