Police use stun gun to apprehend Saline boy, 15, wielding butcher knife

At about 10:15 a.m. Thursday, officers responded to a call from a woman who said her son left their Saline home “very, very angry carrying a butcher knife,” said Police Chief Larry Hrinik.

Police officers confronted the boy near Wilderness Park off Willis Road in Saline.

During the exchange, the boy ran away from police into the forest, Hrinik said. At that point, because the park is in the vicinity of Pleasant Ridge Elementary, the police department notified Saline Area Schools that there was a threatening individual on the loose, he said.

According to the city's website, Wilderness Park is a 22-acre heavily wooded area.

Steve Laatsch, spokesman and assistant superintendent of instructional services for Saline schools, said Pleasant Ridge’s staff was instructed to lock all entrances and exits to the building. Classroom teachers also were told to lock their doors, according to an email Laatsch sent to parents about the incident. No one was allowed to enter or exit the building during this time.

The boy emerged behind a neighborhood on Woodhill Drive about 45 minutes after he disappeared into the Wilderness Park woods, Hrinik said. He walked toward one of the officers, wielding the knife and threatening harm, Hrinik said.

Pittsfield Township police officers were called for backup. The Pittsfield officers were carrying stun guns and were given permission to use them because he was a danger to himself and others, Hrinik said.

“They Tased him, he went to the ground and we apprehended him,” Hrinik said. He was taken to the University of Michigan Hospital.

Hrinik said police would seek charges against the teen for felonious assault. Hrinik said a felonious assault charge is a four-year felony for adults.

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