Man threatens mother with knives

Last Thursday, Bloomington police assisted county deputies in restraining a 22-year-old man armed with knives and barricaded in the basement of a house on Bloomington’s south side.

Bloomington Police Department officers responded to the 4100 block of South Hedgewood Drive to a report of a mentally disturbed individual threatening his mother with knives, BPD Sgt. Lucas Tate said.

When officers confronted the man he barricaded himself in the basement, using furniture to block the door.

The father of the man told officers his son had mental issues and had not been taking his medicine, Tate said.

Sheriff deputies requested the assistance of negotiators and Critical Incident Response Team, a multi-jurisdictional task force trained to handle emergencies such as hostage or barricaded suspect situations.

Upon CIRT’s arrival, the mother was evacuated from the house. Negotiations with the man lasted more than two hours with no positive progress.

The man, armed with a steak knife and large chef knife, periodically put the knives down, Tate said.

CIRT took advantage of one such moment and shot the man with a 40mm sponge round, a high-speed projectile with a foam nose commonly used by tactical teams for non-lethal incapacitation.

The sponge round hit the man once, which disoriented him, Tate said. CIRT rushed the man and took him into custody.

There were no reported injuries.

— Dennis Barbosa