SASCHA WILSON
A mentally ill man who climbed on top of a shed in Union Hall, San Fernando, threatening to hurt himself with a knife, was eventually tasered by the police and subdued this morning.
The commotion at Cypress Boulevard attracted several residents, some of whom knew the 47-year-old man and had tried coaxing him down.
Residents told Guardian Media the man had been acting out for a few days and had parked his car on a few streets away from his home. They said he had threatened to set his car on fire and then hurt himself.
The police and fire fighters responded to the crisis around 8:30 am, but after failed attempts to talk him down from the shed, the police were forced to use the taser gun on him.
By 10:20 am, the man was already strapped into a stretcher and smiling as he was wheeled into an ambulance to be taken to the hospital.
His neighbour, Curtis James, told Guardian Media the man lives alone and has been in and out of mental institutions. James said he was hopeful that his mentally ill neighbour would now get the help he needs.
