ANDOVER, MA – While a Massachusetts man is facing criminal charges related to an alleged domestic incident involving a knife, local authorities are giving credit to the de-escalation training adopted by officers which reportedly led to the suspect being taken into custody without incident.
In policing, domestic incidents, particularly ones involving subjects enduring a mental health crisis, can be both unpredictable and escalate quickly. It’s not uncommon for stories to surface regarding incidents involving an armed subject in crisis who winds up being shot by police responding to said incident, but Andover Police officials say a July 19th incident involving a subject armed with a knife was able to be diffused without further incident.
Andover Police Lt. Frank Fitzpatrick said officer received a 911 call about a family member residing in a Tanglewood Way home who had allegedly threatened another family member with a knife. Following the alleged brandishing of the weapon, the victim fled to a neighboring residence, with Andover Police arriving at the residence shortly thereafter.
“Officers then systematically entered the home and located the male, who was no longer armed with a knife,” Lt. Fitzpatrick shared in a statement regarding the case, confirming the unnamed subject was apprehended and transported to an area hospital to undergo a mental health evaluation.
According to Lt. Fitzpatrick, the peaceful conclusion to the reported incident rests heavily on the de-escalation training of the department’s officers who were on scene, saying, “I would like to commend the involved officers who, due to their extensive training, particularly in the area of de-escalation, were able to bring about a safe outcome to what was an extremely tense and dangerous incident.”
No reported injuries stemmed from the original incident, with police reportedly recovering a meat cleaver and chefs’ knife outside of the residence allegedly connected to the incident. While authorities have confirmed criminal charges are on the horizon for the apprehended suspect, specifics on said looming charges were not shared by officials as of this writing.
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