Meriden Police Officer Honored For Life-Saving Actions In Encounter With Suicidal Man

MERIDEN, CT — A Meriden police officer was honored Wednesday for his efforts with helping to save a distressed man who was attempting “suicide by cop” earlier this year, according to police.

Officer John Guest received a Meritorious Service Award from the Police Commissioners Association of Connecticut for his actions on May 19, according to police.

Police said officers responded to the area of the Meriden Arms Motel on North Broad Street to conduct a welfare check on a 51-year-old man with ideas of suicide.

“The Wallingford Police Department advised us that the male had posted suicidal comments on Facebook and that they had last pinged his phone to that area,” Meriden police wrote in a post on Facebook. “In house records revealed a history involving the male and law enforcement at that Motel. Officers checked with the clerk at Motel to see if the 51-year-old male had rented a room. The male had not yet checked in but was previously on scene and was told to return later when the room was ready.

“Officers checked the cameras and determined the male was still in the area. Officers John Guest and Sabrina Kosky canvassed the area around the Motel and located the male hiding in the woods on a hill nearby.”

Police said officers did not approach and requested additional officers. When additional officers arrived, police said a pre-planned approach was made and Guest tried to make verbal contact with the man.

“As soon as the male saw officers, he turned and ran further up the steep hill,” police wrote. “He ignored verbal commands to stay put and began to yell at officers to stay back. Officer Guest and Sergeant Hartline began to ascend the hill towards the male.”

Read more about the incident from the police department below:

The male had reached an area on the hill where there was a large amount of rocks and a steep cliff to his rear. The male appeared fatigued and began to hunker down. The terrain was extremely hazardous, unstable and heavily wooded.

The rocky base was so unstable it constantly crumbled under foot and the ground was very slippery. The area provided little coverage and concealment for officers.

When Officer Guest reached a location that was roughly 50 feet or less from the male, the male began to yell at him to stay back and retreat from his location. The male communicated loudly that he had a gun and would shoot officers if they approached.

Officer Guest was in an unsafe position as he was within proximity to the male and did not have much concealment. Sgt. Hartline and Officer Guest requested additional resources and attempted to slow down the situation.

Officer Guest continued to communicate with the male from his position and at times needed to move in and out of cover to maintain a visual on the male. As he did so, he came into the male's line of sight. The male continued to yell to get back and that he had a gun on him.

At one point, the male made a movement where he lifted his shirt with one hand and reached into his waistband with the other. He then came up from his waist band with both hands together and pushed his hands forward as if he was pointing a gun at Officer Guest.

They could see that the male was holding something but could not determine exactly what it was or make certain that it was a firearm. The male continued to yell at Officer Guest that he would shoot him if he got any closer and that Guest would have to kill him.

Officer Guest assured the male that we were only there to help him and continued to offer him assistance. The male disregarded Officer Guest and continued to rant about having a weapon and that the officers would have to kill him.

The male crouched to a position that Sergeant Hartline could see him a little more clearly and saw him separate his hands. When he did so, Sergeant Hartline could clearly see that the object he was holding was a rock and not a firearm.

This information was communicated to Officer Guest; however, they were still concerned the male had a firearm on his person. With this new information, they believed that the male was in distress and was attempting "Suicide by Cop."

Officer Guest continued to build rapport with the male and determined that he had been going through a difficult time, to include recent arrests, domestic incidents, having his car towed, being homeless and sleeping in the woods.

Officer Guest was able to build trust with the male, advising him that we would get him the help he needed and would get him through the situation. Eventually, the male agreed and Officer Guest guided him to a safe position.

Officers provide coverage from several different vantage points until Officer Guest could reach and secure the male as well as confirm the male was not armed.

The male told Officer Guest he never had a firearm but pretended to have one, so officers would have to shoot and kill him. The Meriden Fire Department assisted getting the male safely to the bottom of the hill where he was provided medical treatment for his mental health issues.

As a result of Officer Guest's actions and bravery, this situation was brought to a peaceful resolution. Officer Guest demonstrated a calm demeanor and had a great command presence even though he was presented with a possibly armed individual and life-threatening encounter under poor conditions.

Officer Guest also exercised great restraint and de-escalation skills to peacefully put an end to a situation that posed significant risk to the male, Officer Guest, and other officers who were on scene.

We are all very proud of Officer Guest’s actions on that day! He has brought great credit to our agency and our Law Enforcement profession as a whole.