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On Saturday, July 3, four officers and two sergeants from the Ossining Police Department responded to a call of a juvenile who was armed with a weapon and seeking to harm himself, the department announced.
According to officials, the information they received indicated that the minor was considering what has been referred to as “suicide by cop,” where a person intentionally uses a weapon with the intention of goading police into shooting them.
Upon arrival at the scene, police said that the minor was in front of the home with an airsoft rifle (pictured above) that was modded to look like a real weapon.
Police said that the minor began firing the rifle at officers, who recognized it was an airsoft gun, not a real gun, and refused to return fire.
Instead, negotiators at the scene and a dispatch officer convicted the minor’s parents to retrieve the weapon, which they were able to do without further incident. The minor was detained and transported to an area hospital for evaluation.
No injuries were reported, and no gunshots were fired, just rounds of airsoft bullets.
“Not every call goes as planned. Not every shift will be what we expect,” officials said. “This call was everything these officers prepared for and they executed with precision.
“Zero shots fired. Zero injuries to officers, the subject, or bystanders. Most people probably wouldn't even know about this if we didn't tell you.
Officials noted that the call “could have gone very differently.”
“Any slight variation in the fact pattern could have made this an awful tragedy. We're glad it ended like this but we also know it ended this way because of the courage, patience, and professionalism of the responding officers.”
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