Man threatened to kill himself in front of wife, then brandished BB gun when cops showed
A man threatened to kill himself in front of his wife following a physical altercation and brandished a BB gun when confronted by officers, according to a Myrtle Beach police report.
Police responded to the 700 block of 11th Avenue South on Saturday night in response to a reported disturbance, the report states. An officer met up with a neighbor who called in to report hearing loud arguing in the apartment above hers, and the victim was alongside, according to the report.
The victim told police the man was still in the above apartment and that there were two BB guns and multiple knives in the home, the report states. After officers went to the door and announced who they were, the man opened the door with his left hand while holding a BB gun in his right, according to the report.
One officer demanded multiple times that he drop the BB gun, and he eventually laid it down on a table near the doorway and was detained as police further investigated, the report states.
The man told police he was extremely depressed and felt like he could do nothing right in his marriage with the victim, according to the report. He told officers that they had been arguing about going out to dinner before the situation escalated, the report states.
The man said that after the victim walked away, he picked up a knife and put it to his throat in hopes of making the victim feel sorry for him, according to the report. He told police he had begun to cut his throat with the knife, and the officer noted a visible inch-long cut on the side of his throat, the report states.
The man told police he then hit the victim in the right shoulder, knocking her down, and told her he was going to kill himself, according to the report. He told the woman that if she called the cops, he would make sure they would kill him and he would go out with a fight, the report states.
The man said he and the woman had been together for 12 years and married for nine, according to the report.
The victim corroborated that they had been arguing and the man hit her on the right side of her body and held a knife to his throat while threatening to kill himself, the report states. The officer noted visible red swelling on the woman’s right shoulder where she said he’d hit her, according to the report.
The officer also noticed multiple cuts on the woman’s inner left arm, the report states. The woman told police that in the past the man had made her feel like she was to blame for his anger, to which she would cut herself as punishment, according to the report.
The officer completed a victim’s advocate form with the woman, who said she wanted resources and information on how to get away from the man since she feared him, the report states.
Officers decided that due to the circumstances it was best for the man, 35-year-old Jonathan Welch, to get medical attention for being suicidal before an arrest was made, according to the report. He was taken to the hospital for evaluation, and police prepared a warrant for domestic violence to be served after the man is released from the hospital, the report states.
This story was originally published February 16, 2019 at 1:21 PM.
