Courageous police officer disarms a suicidal boy holding a knife to his own throat

Last Monday, a preteen escaped a mental health institution and got into a store where he stole two knives. Police dashcam video showed the young boy threatening to slice his throat with one of the knives.

The incident that occurred in Grove City, Ohio, culminated with a police officer sneaking behind the boy to try and save him.

Officer Brandon Judd, 31, was part of the confrontation with a 12-year-old boy. The incident took place in a strip mall parking lot in Ohio.

The preteen escaped from Buckeye Ranch Client & Mental Health Services. He got out by climbing a tree, breaking off a branch, and using it to hit a police officer.

For more on this story go to our Twitter account @amomama_usa. Then the unnamed boy ran toward a Dollar Tree store and went inside when he saw police officers.

The preteen then came out holding two butcher knives which he’d removed from their packaging. He started threatening to throw them at the police before fleeing to a parking lot where he was surrounded by a number of officers.

Dashcam footage showed the boy threatening to cut his own throat. Judd, who was at the scene behind the boy recalled:

“I'm just trying to keep my distance, talk to him, see what's going through his head. Obviously he's going through some sort of crisis.”

The officer saw an opportunity when a police cruiser pulled up close to the boy, distracting him. The officer was recorded turning down the volume on his radio so it wouldn't be heard.

He then slowly circled back behind the boy. Judd added about the tense moment, “I figured if I could slowly walk out of his view, maybe he would forget about me.”

Judd noted that his colleagues knew what he was doing and played along. They started talking to the boy to distract him.

The officer explained:

“We all knew what was going on. They knew what I was doing. I knew what they were doing without actually saying a word.”

Grabbing an armed suspect is against official training. However, Judd felt the circumstances were different in this case.

He said, “I knew I'd be able to overpower the kid if I could get close enough.” The footage showed the moment Judd was able to grab the boy’s wrist from behind and forcing him to drop the knives.

The other officers responded by quickly handcuffing him. One officer was seen kneeling in front of the preteen trying to assure him that everything was going to be alright.

Judd said:

"Once I walked away I was shaking and I couldn't believe what just happened and how well everything turned out."

The boy was taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital and was later released. He is, however, facing charges including assault, inducing panic, aggravated menacing, and theft.

On March 20, Columbus police saved a 17-year-old girl from jumping off a bridge. A body camera video showed Officer’s Kenneth Kropp and Anthony Sebastiano grabbing the girl by the arms before two other officers helped to pull her over the railing to the safe side of the bridge.

The video that was posted on Facebook showed the police calming the girl and reminding her that "nothing's that bad.”

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org.