Fort Collins Police: Man Suspected Of Trying To Get Officers To Shoot Him Subdued With Hard Foam Projectiles
By Anna Maria Basquez
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) -- On Sunday night in Fort Collins, a man called 911 multiple times -- to report himself. Others called emergency dispatch to report the man sitting near a restaurant in midtown with a handgun pointed at his own head. Now, the chief of police is praising his squad for saving at least one life.
"Officers arrived on scene within a minute and that's when everything unfolded," said Kate Kimble, spokeswoman with Fort Collins Police Department. "It was out in a shopping plaza. He'd originally called pretending to be an informant saying there's a man with a gun in this area of a restaurant. Our belief is he was trying to prompt the officers into shooting him or engaging him in some way."
Police used a less lethal tool, called a launcher which launches a hard, foam baton. "It allows us to keep that distance from a person that might have a weapon of some sort."
Police were able to take the 27-year-old man safely into custody and book him into jail.
"After investigating further, police learned that the man had actually called 911 himself several times to get a law enforcement response and was likely trying to get police to shoot him," police officials said.
The incident happened at 7 p.m. at the 2600 block of South Lemay Avenue in a shopping center parking lot. They used a foam baton projectile, as well as the single-shot 40mm less-lethal launcher.
"Our mental health response team has officers and clinicians that pair together and they work to help people in various crisis situations and provide whatever resources are relevant to them," Kimble said.
"Our officers truly are amazing professionals who use time, distance, and strong tactical decision-making to safely resolve dangerous situations, then take after-action steps to help create a safer future for all."
