UPDATE: Man with Machete Had Escaped Hospital

On Friday evening, Vernon Police were notified by Rockville General Hospital that a teenage male undergoing treatment there had escaped from the Emergency Department.

Officers began to search for the teen and a short time later, at approximately 5:49 p.m., the teen was spotted running into a residence on Union Street. A Vernon police officer who has received specialized Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training responded and tried to make contact with the teen but was unsuccessful.

He had barricaded himself in a bedroom and was believed to be suicidal and armed with a machete.

Additional officers set up a perimeter and a limited mutual aid response was requested - which included a few members of the Capital Region Emergency Services Team (CREST). A CREST vehicle was also called to the scene to standby.

The Vernon CIT officer tried to make contact with the teen, who is only being identified as a Vernon resident in his late teens. There was no response. A K9 team from the Connecticut State Police assisted and entered the apartment.

The teen was located inside and taken into custody at approximately 7:15 p.m. The machete was also located in the apartment.

The teen received only superficial injuries while being taken into custody and no police officers or members of the public were injured.

The teen was brought to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center by Vernon EMS for treatment.

No criminal charges have been filed at this time.