A knife-wielding suicidal man advanced on deputies asking to be shot Saturday.
However, he was tased by Deputy Justin Meeboer and taken into custody without serious injury while Deputy Virginia Howard drew her gun and covered her partner, saidΒ Deputy Ira Sewell, a Pima County Sheriff's Department spokesman, in a news release Monday.
After the man was in custody, he was taken to the county's Crisis Response Center for mental health treatment, said Sewell.
The incident began about 6 p.m. Saturday when deputies responded to the 4300 block of West Oasis Drive, in a neighborhood south of West Lambert Lane and east of North Camino de Oeste.
The man called 911 and said he had a knife and wanted deputies to shoot him, said Sewell.
When deputies arrived at the home, they found the man in the driveway armed with a 5-inch knife. Both deputies talked to the man and told him to drop the knife, but the man refused and told deputies to shoot him, said Sewell.
Meeboer told the man he was not going to shoot him, rather he wanted to help him. The man raised the knife and began moving towards Meeboer. Meeboer deployed his taser twice, and the second time it was successful in stopping the man who then was handcuffed and detained.
Meeboer was familiar with the man because he previously responded to suicidal threats involving him. The department has had 109 contacts with the man since 2009, and 31 of those contacts were related to suicidal threats, Sewell said.
Both Meeboer, who has worked for the department four years and Howard for one year, have undergone training to deal with those suffering a mental health crisis, said Sewell. He said their knowledge "allowed them to handle this situation effectively and without serious injury."
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