Police in Greenbelt, Maryland, shot and wounded a man Monday morning after responding to a call for someone experiencing mental health issues.
Officers were called to a house on Plateau Place about 10:30 a.m. for the report of a suicidal male, according to Greenbelt police spokeswoman Hannah Glasgow. The man who was shot was the one who called officers to the house, she said.
Glasgow said when officers made contact with the man at the home, he had a knife with an approximately six-inch blade in his hand. Officers ordered the man to drop the weapon according to Glasgow but he refused.
The man exited the home rapidly toward officers and raised the knife.
“At that time, both officers discharged their weapons” Glasgow said.
The man was taken the the hospital, and as of Monday evening was in stable non-critical condition according to the police department.
“They were going for a mental health call, with someone experiencing mental health issues,” Glasgow told reporters. “And this is unfortunately the outcome.”
The officers who responded to the house were wearing body cameras, and the footage is expected to be released on Wednesday, Glasgow said.
Both officers involved on the shooting were male, one officer joined the department in 2014 and the other in last year. Both officers are on administrative duty as the department investigate their actions.
In a news release, the department said the Maryland Attorney General’s Office Independent Investigations Unit declined the case based on the man’s injuries.
Prince George’s County police are taking the lead in the investigation, and Greenbelt police are assisting, she said.
Joanne Ward, a neighbor, said she saw two police cars arrive in the neighborhood shortly before the shooting Monday morning.
“I knew something was going on, and I looked out around and I could see them coming up the court,” she said. “And I thought it was probably just a neighbor complaint.”
She said she saw another two cars speeding down the street. “And then very shortly after that, I heard five gunshots,” she said.
Ward, who’s lived on Plateau Place for 23 years, said she didn’t believe she knew the man well.
“I’m just praying that he’s OK and he gets the help he needs,” she said.
WTOP’s Mike Murillo contributed to this report.
