Police Safely Talk Down A Woman Holding Knife To Own Throat

BEACON, NY — Patience, training and compassion helped protect a woman in crisis from a potentially disastrous situation.

On Sunday, at approximately 2 p.m., the City of Beacon Police Department received a call for a welfare check on a suicidal woman who was possibly at an address on Wolcott Avenue.

Beacon police, as well as the department's Mental Health America Behavioral Specialist, located the woman at the address and found her calm but incoherent. While they attempted to speak with her, she produced a kitchen knife from her pocket, held it to her own throat and then slowly retreated into the All In One Food Mart.

Officers quickly evacuated an employee from the store while other officers continued to try to engage with the woman and de-escalate the situation. Although the woman was described as "largely unresponsive," she was convinced to drop the knife.

She was then taken into custody without further incident. The officers discovered that she had what appeared to be a previously self-inflicted wound to her stomach. The woman was taken hospital by ambulance for medical and mental health evaluation.