Stun gun prevents 'suicide by cop'

SPIRIT LAKE - A Spirit Lake woman with apparent suicidal thoughts allegedly lunged twice with a knife at law enforcement Thursday before being subdued with a stun gun, police said.

"Officers interviewed her afterward and she said she did want to commit suicide by cop," said Spirit Lake police Chief Keith Hutcheson.

Police transported the woman to Kootenai Health for a mental evaluation. Police haven't released the name of the woman, 55, due to her alleged mental state. Charges, if any, have not been determined.

"A charge of aggravated battery on a police officer could be pending, but we want to look at the situation in totality," Hutcheson said. "A family member told us that she recently lost a daughter due to overdose and she's had a history of depression. But, of course, we didn't know that until afterward."

Hutcheson praised Officer Greg Marshall and a Kootenai County Sheriff's Office responder who was called for backup, for safely handling the tense situation near Jefferson and Fifth around 3 a.m.

"She was yelling, 'Kill me, kill me,' and lunged twice at them with the knife," said Hutcheson, adding that the woman also screamed multiple expletives. "The (responders) felt that she wasn't lunging at them to stab them, but taunting them. She tried to bait them into shooting her. They couldn't safely get close enough to her without using a Taser."

Hutcheson described the knife as medium-sized, one that resembled a fillet knife. No one else was at the home during the incident.

Hutcheson said Marshall could smell alcohol during the incident. He said the woman told the suicide hotline that she had swallowed several pills.

Hutcheson said suicide-by-cop is an alarming trend around the country.