Eureka Police Deescalates Crisis Situation

Eureka, Ca. (KIEM) Eureka Police praising one of their own for how an officer responded to a crisis situation.

On Sunday officers were called out after a report of a man assaulting his mother at a home on West Hawthorne Street.

Police say when encountered by Officer Matthew White, the man was armed with a sword.

They say Officer White was able to convince the suspect to put the sword down.

Police also say at one point the suspect told officers to shoot and kill him.

Officials tell us officers were able to defuse the tense situation without using significant or deadly force against the suspect.

“Officers frequently encounter intense and certainly rapidly involving situations where they have to make split-second, life-or-death decisions and often our actions are dictated by what the suspect does, in a given situation,” said EPD’s Chief of Police Steve Watson. “But where we can use time, talk tactics, and our less-lethal options like bean-bag shotguns or tasers to deescalate the situation and prevent things from turning into a more significant use of force or use of deadly force. It’s a very important strategy in law enforcement today and a very important area we train our officers on.”

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