By Dave Eisenstadter
masslive.com
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A training exercise with a new Massachusetts State Police trooper took a dangerous turn when a man threw a small ax at a police cruiser in Springfield, according to police.
In an Instagram post that showed video of what happened, police said a new recruit and a training coach encountered a man on Monday night at 9 p.m. carrying a hatchet in his right hand, several knives and a machete.
The man, whom the post did not name but identified as being in his late 30s, asked why the officers wouldn’t come out of their car and arrest him for having the weapons, according to the post.
“Troopers attempted to de-escalate the situation and told the man he was free to leave,” the post read. “The man remained at the cruiser shaking his head.”
Under advice from the trooper coach, the new recruit put the vehicle in reverse to put distance between them and the man. The man struck the car several times on the hood and headlight, then “wound up and threw the hatchet at the passenger side of the windshield.”
Police video shows a trooper drawing his weapon and aiming it at the man.
“Hey he’s got a knife and he’s got an ax and he threw it at us,” one officer shouts in the video.
Police continued to shout at the person to put the weapons down and to get on the ground.
The man complied, dropped his weapons and surrendered, the post read.
“He continued acting erratically yelling that he wanted to kill corrections officers and later first responders broadly,” the post read.
Massachusetts State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble, newly appointed in October, commented on the police actions.
“Despite the grave danger posed by an armed, volatile individual, these Troopers used their training and composure to achieve a safe resolution for the suspect, bystanders, and first responders,” Noble said. “This event is one example of the excellent police services out members deliver to the people of Massachusetts. I thank these troopers for their example of de-escalation, which remains a core value of our approach to these situations.”
The full video can be viewed here.
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