Wood County Sheriff’s Department Issues Press Release
OnFocus (Arpin) Wood County Sheriff’s Department issued a press release Thursday evening in response to multiple media inquiries.
The press release reads:
The information below is being provided in response to multiple media inquiries. We have done our best to answer all the questions at this time. Please remember this is an ongoing investigation.
We would like to update the community and media on the unfortunate incident that occurred the evening of June 11th. Both deputies involved are recovering from the incident. The deputy that was shot is expected to make a full recovery and was released from the hospital.
The Wood County Sheriff’s Department would like to offer our condolences to the family who lost a loved one, and wish the other injured person a full recovery.
Deputies were called to a residence in the village of Arpin for a report of a 32-year-old suicidal male. After approximately 20 minutes, and while the deputies were speaking with a crisis interventionist from Wood County Crisis Intervention, the suicidal person went inside the residence and armed himself with a knife. A struggle ensued and one of the deputies discharged his firearm. Bullets struck the subject, another civilian and the other deputy. Deputies attempted life-saving measures until EMS arrived, but the suicidal male died from his injuries.
The deputies involved are 6 and 16-year veterans of the Wood County Sheriff’s Department. Both deputies have completed Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training. CIT Training is a 40-hour training course supported by NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). During this training, officers are provided with information on mental illnesses, de-escalation, community resources, and other topics related to mental health.
We partner with Wood County Human Services Department Crisis Intervention team to provide assessments for individuals who are struggling with suicidal or homicidal ideation and for those whose mental health is of concern. This frequently is the result of calls from service known as welfare checks.
During this process, individuals may be connected to a continuum of services including community based safety planning up to emergency hospitalization/detention. Welfare checks may additionally result in referrals to adult protective services, family services, environmental health, or other community programs if they cannot be resolved directly by law enforcement.
The deputies involved in this incident are on paid administrative leave during the investigation, which is standard protocol.
We understand there are still many unanswered questions at this time. The Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation is actively investigating the incident. We plan to answer as many of your questions as we can once the investigation is concluded.
We would like to thank all of the law enforcement agencies, first responders, emergency medical personnel and others for their assistance and continued support. We would also like to thank the community for their support as the Wood County Sheriff’s Department moves forward from this tragic incident. The countless emails, phone calls and messages of well wishes our staff has received are appreciated more than we can express.
Sheriff Shawn Becker
Press Release (Photo)
