BUCKHANNON – A man who was reportedly holding a knife to his throat and threatening to harm himself in the Jawbone Park area caused police to shut down a two-block area in downtown Buckhannon Saturday evening.
After a two-hour standoff that begin at approximately 6:45 p.m., the man eventually surrendered peacefully to law enforcement just prior to 9 p.m., Buckhannon Police Chief Matt Gregory said Monday.
Gregory said the situation began when the man flagged down Sgt. Tom Posy with the BPD, saying he needed help.
“He said he needed help and had a knife to his neck,” Gregory said Monday morning. “At one point, he had two knives out, which caused us to basically close down a two-block radius of downtown, including Trader’s Alley and South Florida Street, and throughways were shut down for two hours until he surrendered the knives.”
Gregory said after a two-hour negotiation, the man surrendered peacefully and requested that Upshur EMS transport him to United Hospital Center in Clarksburg.
Gregory said the BPD charged the man with brandishing a deadly weapon and obstructing, both misdemeanors, given the dangerousness of the situation and the fact that UHC treated and released him about 12 hours later, according the to West Virginia Regional Jail site.
“Because of the dangerousness of the situation, we did charge him with brandishing and obstructing,” he said. “Obviously, we had explored the mental hygiene route, but that didn’t pan out. He did go willingly to UHC but was released after being treated, so there is a continuing investigation and the charge was because of our concern for public safety – his safety, our safety, the general public’s safety.”
“Generally and globally speaking, there is the possibility of a court-ordered mental health or hygiene evaluation,” Gregory added. “It was an armed standoff with two knives at one point, and we needed to contain it and deal with it for public safety; there were a lot of people still downtown when it began.”
