GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Grand Rapids Police Department says the training and quick-thinking of its officers likely saved the life of a suicidal woman armed with a knife.
Just after 6 p.m. Thursday, officers took a call about a woman who was stabbing herself. They found the 45-year-old woman near the roundabout at Jefferson Avenue and Cherry Street SE, holding the knife to her throat and asking officers to shoot her.
Police say the woman cut her body several times while officers tried to verbally calm her down. The GRPD says officers tried to talk to the woman for several minutes, but she was unreceptive. At that point, police decided to fire several bean bag rounds at her legs, which got her to drop the knife so they could safely approach and stop her.