A 25-year-old man hoping to provoke law enforcement into shooting him during a suicidal moment was taken into custody Sunday morning after Turlock Police officers were able to defuse the situation with the use of non-lethal tactics.

The incident began around 8:45 a.m. Sunday when the police department received a report of a disturbance in the 1500 block of Stallion Court. The caller stated the man creating the disturbance was wielding two kitchen knives, said Turlock Police spokesperson Officer Steve Rodrigues.

While en route to the scene the officers were informed by family members of the 25-year-old man that he had made a statement to them that he was going to “charge at the arriving officers and make them shoot him.” 

Four officers arrived at the scene and found two family members trying to restrain the 25-year-old. Officers attempted to talk to the man, but he was non-responsive. Out of a concern for the safety of others, the officers deployed bean bag rounds at the man, which served to disarm him, Rodrigues said.

The man was safety detained and transported to the hospital by ambulance for a mental health evaluation. 

“Turlock Police officers receive ongoing training as well as attend a 40-hour Crisis Intervention Training that equip them with information on recognizing signs of mental health distress and how to effectively deal with them,” Rodrigues said in a news release.