'Suicide By Cop' Attempt Thwarted On Martha's Vineyard: MSP

MARTHA'S VINEYARD, MA – A man on Martha's Vineyard who threatened officers and said he wanted to provoke a "suicide by cop" was subdued Wednesday morning, state police said. State and local police officers were called to a home in Tisbury shortly after 10 a.m. for a "distraught and volatile" 20-year-old man who was punching out glass windows and yelling, according to police.

The man, armed with a knife, had cut himself with shards of broken glass and was threatening to charge at police and use the weapon on them, police said. He allegedly barricaded himself in a second-floor room, while his elderly relative was locked in the house and unable to leave.

Police broke a window to enter the home and led the man's relative outside. Meanwhile the man continuously yelled and made "homicidal and suicidal statements," threatening to kill officers and himself, according to police.

Police entered the home and found the man, who allegedly threw a wrench at them. He was brought under control by an electronic weapon and placed into custody.

The man was taken to Martha's Vineyard Hospital for treatment and evaluation and will be charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

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