Bodycam captures tense situation as man reportedly threatens 'suicide by cop'

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX/WTTE) — Officers in Columbus were able to diffuse a difficult situation after they say a man became irrational and threatened "suicide by cop."

On March 7, Officer Linda Gutierrez responded to an apparent car accident near the intersection of East Livingston Avenue and Brookwood Road in east Columbus.

Gutierrez said someone who appeared to be a victim of the accident quickly became irate while she was trying to assess the situation.

Columbus Police said the 27-year-old man then berated the officer and threatened "suicide by cop" as he continued to approach Gutierrez. The officer repeatedly yelled no as video showed he tried to get her to shoot him, at one point even yelling "I don't want to kill you!"

(WARNING: The video contains strong language not suitable for children.)

"She showed amazing restraint in the entire video. Officer Wendell Tolber is first to arrive and uses a taser on the suspect ending the confrontation. She is a superstar to say the least," said Officer Gutierrez's supervisor Lt. David Knight.

Officer Tolber was the second officer to respond to the scene.

"So I pulled up and I saw that he was kind of amped up, you know is fists was clenched his face I see it was yellow a little bit," he said. "Usually my term is, 'Oh man, that incident went from zero to 100....' this one went from zero to 1,000 instantly, and it could have been real bad but she kept her head, she kept her cool."

Officer Tolber used his taser on the man to help subdue him. The man has since been hospitalized to receive treatment for his mental health.

The officers are glad the situation ended without serious injury.

"Nobody got killed, nobody got seriously injured, everybody walked away and we got him the help that we felt he needed," said Tolber.

His hope is that this body camera video shows the public that just about anything can happen on the job.