At ten o'clock Sunday night, May 20, 2012, police in Hackensack, New Jersey responded to a report of a 43-year-old man who threatened to kill himself. Wayne Carter had barricaded himself in the bedroom of his house. Two officers kicked open the bedroom door and found Carter crouched in a corner holding a 12-inch knife. The officers ordered the disturbed and distraught man to drop the weapon. Instead, he stood up and began stabbing himself in the abdomen, legs, and neck.
The stunned police officers, in an effort to keep this man from killing himself, showered him with two cans of pepper-spray. Immune to the pepper-spray, Mr. Carter reacted by throwing pieces of his bloody tissue and intestines at the officers. They backed-off and called in the Bergen County SWAT team.
Members of the SWAT team overpowered and disarmed the bleeding and weakened subject. Paramedics rushed him to a nearby hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. He had stabbed himself 50 times, and was listed in critical condition.
According to his family and friends, Wayne Carter had a history of mental illness and had abused drugs. He had also been arrested for assault and resisting arrest but has not been charged in this case. His bizarre behavior, coming as it did in the wake of the face-chewing case in Miami, and the college student's cannibalism in Maryland, has made people wonder where the epidemic of drug use and mental illness is leading this country.
The stunned police officers, in an effort to keep this man from killing himself, showered him with two cans of pepper-spray. Immune to the pepper-spray, Mr. Carter reacted by throwing pieces of his bloody tissue and intestines at the officers. They backed-off and called in the Bergen County SWAT team.
Members of the SWAT team overpowered and disarmed the bleeding and weakened subject. Paramedics rushed him to a nearby hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. He had stabbed himself 50 times, and was listed in critical condition.
According to his family and friends, Wayne Carter had a history of mental illness and had abused drugs. He had also been arrested for assault and resisting arrest but has not been charged in this case. His bizarre behavior, coming as it did in the wake of the face-chewing case in Miami, and the college student's cannibalism in Maryland, has made people wonder where the epidemic of drug use and mental illness is leading this country.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteLooking at these incidents from a PA Residents viewpoint, i point to the non-institutional problem. here in PA we have "given-up" putting some of these people in institutions. We place them in society where they as can be easily seen do not belong.
What has been the recent update on Mr. Wayne Carter, were there blood tests? Are those records something the public can access?
ReplyDeleteWhile documents like autopsies and crime lab blood-tests are public records, they can be difficult to get if for some reason the authorities want to keep the information under wraps.
ReplyDelete