Suicidal man with knife and trash-can shield arrested in Wichita

A suicidal man with a knife and trash-can lid for a shield was subdued by police using less lethal weapons over the weekend.

Wichita police Capt. Brian White said authorities received a call about a suspicious character in the 100 block of South Sedgwick at 3:45 p.m. Saturday.

Two sergeants arrived at the scene, one armed with a bean-bag shotgun and the other with a 40 mm rifle with a foam round.

The 57-year-old man was making suicidal statements and became more agitated as police arrived, White said during the media briefing. The sergeant with the bean-bag shotgun – the less lethal of the two weapons – fired and struck the man with two bean-bag rounds before he dropped the knife and shield.

He was taken into custody and to the hospital with minor injuries to the abdomen and bicep where the rounds struck him, White said. He received a psychiatric evaluation and is still in the hospital as of Tuesday morning.

The use of less lethal weapons such as bean-bag and foam rounds is part of the Wichita Police Department’s effort to de-escalate potentially dangerous situations with minimal injury and without the use of handguns. Currently, the department has 15 less lethal weapons, White said.

Kaitlyn Alanis: 316-268-6213, @KaitlynAlanis

This story was originally published June 20, 2017 at 1:43 PM with the headline "Suicidal man with knife and trash-can shield arrested in Wichita."