GinnyReedBaltimore, MD – A Baltimore police officer saved the life of a man threatening cops with a knife, after successfully talking him down (video below.)
“I was hoping that was the outcome it was gonna be. I didn’t want it to be a deadly force outcome,” Officer Angel Villaronga said after the incident.
The incident, captured on body-cam video, occurred on September 6 in west Baltimore, according to WBFF .
In the video, a suspect who gave his name as “Phillip” can be seen holding the knife, and telling police to kill him.
“C’mon man shoot me,” the man said.
“Just do your job, man,” he said.
“This is our job,” Officer Villaronga replied.
“A man has got a knife in his hand. He’s threatening you, saying he’s gonna hurt someone out here, and all of a sudden you all don’t do nothing?” the man asked.
Officer Villaronga followed the man to Pennsylvania Avenue, and after about five minutes, was able to talk him into handing over the knife.
“Great work by Officer Villaronga.” Jeremy Silbert, Public Information Officer for the Baltimore Police Department, said in a social media post. He also thanked reporter Paul Gessler with FoxBaltimore for telling the story.
Officer Villaronga credited his instincts for knowing what to do, and said that a similar incident happened when he was a kid, when his father became suicidal in New York City.
“At 13 years old, I had the same situation happen with my father, and he was gonna jump off the roof. So, we had NYPD there and they asked me to go up. They don’t want to see my mom, because that’s gonna make him jump. So, de-escalation, right there,” Office Villaronga said.
His father is still alive today because of the way police handled that situation years ago, he said.
After handing the knife over, the man was transported to a hospital for treatment.
You can see the video of the incident below.