Posted on 04/09/2013 4:47:16 PM PDT by Altariel
ST. PETERSBURG — Police shot and killed a man Sunday evening they say was suicidal and threatening two officers with a pair of scissors.
The man, identified by police as Arthur Dixon, 43, of 5411 Fourth Ave. N was shot in the upper torso. He was transported as a trauma alert patient to Bayfront Medical Center, where he later died.
His mother, who was temporarily staying at his house, called authorities about 6:10 p.m. to say Dixon had doused himself with gasoline and was threatening to set himself afire.
A neighbor, Ray Wuest, saw firefighters arrive and went to help. He said he has known Dixon more than a decade and — unlike firefighters at the scene — was not intimidated by a pit bull named Chico in the window.
Wuest said he went inside to try to talk to Dixon.
Dixon sat at the kitchen table, he said, with gas spilled all around and on him, smoking a cigarette.
Wuest said he took the cigarette, then went outside to ask firefighters whether they had something to mop up the gas. He said he went back in to clean it up. After he did, the police arrived and insisted he leave.
St. Petersburg police spokesman Mike Puetz said officers negotiated for more than an hour with Dixon. But he was "belligerent and threatening," a police statement said.
About 7:30 p.m., Dixon ran out the back of the house where Officers Devin Jones and Curtis Wright were stationed.
Dixon held a pair of scissors and raised them in a threatening manner as he approached the officers, Puetz said.
The two officers drew their guns and warned him several times to stop, Puetz said, and retreated backward. Still, Dixon kept approaching.
Both officers fired. Puetz said he did not know how many shots were fired. Dixon was struck in the upper torso and fell.
"Scissors are a deadly weapon," Puetz said. "They can cause great harm. They can be just as dangerous as a knife."
Both officers are on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated.
Wuest said Dixon is a former landscaper who suffered a brain injury some time ago and became disabled. He has two children, one in college and one in high school, Wuest said, who do not live with him.
Ray Wuest and his wife, Mary Wuest, said they could have ended it all peacefully if only given the chance.
"If they would have left us alone with him, we could have gotten him out of the house," Mary Wuest said.
State records show that Dixon was convicted in 2011 of robbery with a weapon and resisting an officer with violence.
He was released from state prison Feb. 17.
News researcher Natalie Watson contributed to this report.
--Agents of the State
Was he running with the scissors? If so I say open fire. #cantbetoocareful
Have to use up those bullets somehow. Guess they hadn’t shot any dogs lately.
That’s sad... If these people have no better people skills than that they have to kill a sick person, that’s really sad...
We often lump fireman and police together as heroes, however as of late it’s the fireman who will risk his life and go into a burning building to save someone (even a dog or cat). Police send in flammable tear gas first to protect their own ass. Police are no heroes...
Since he was doused with gasoline (and no indication is made that this was cleaned off of him) and knew it, it would make more sense for him to grab one of the twain before he reached for the scissors.
It makes better sense if one wants to justify shooting someone who is suicidal, instead of talking him down.
He was going to die one way or another. Too bad the cops have to live with the aftermath.
Guy should have just struck the match and left everybody else out of it.
Some people just need killing. Sounds like the PoPo did us all a favor. His next stop might have been a gun free zone near you.
end of
It’s because he didn’t have a dog they could shoot.
Not necessarily. You’re ignoring the presence of the neighbor.
Also, people who are determined to commit suicide no-matter-what do it; those who make a spectacle about it typically WANT to be talked out of it.
Oh yes, because people who announce an intention to kill themselves so frequently become homicidal maniacs.
Why are you cheering on the actions of the government employees rather than the good neighbor who was talking to the man?
Holy crap. We need to fit everyone in a straightjacket.
Well, suicide is illegal, they had to stop him.
I don't care.
Your narcissistic suicide charade endangers those around you.
Anybody who threatens suicide should be shot on the spot.
You'd be amazed how few people would threaten suicide after that.
Go into social work if you want to save the world. What are you some kinda bleeding heart liberal?
I say shoot em now before the mental defects can do more harm.
prolly a pair of these... 
I also back the cops on this. They were called because he had doused himself with gasolene.
This is a very dangerous situation for them. They had the prior hx of his past no doubt, armed robbery, prison.
Granted this man had a brain disorder and was suicidal. however, mental patients in crisis can be very strong and unpredictable. If someone is coming at me with scissors, and doesn’t stop, I would shoot. And if I shoot, I would shoot to kill..not try to shoot him in the leg, miss and have him keep coming. Cops don’t have the luxory we do sitting at a computer thinking of other options.
what were they supposed to do? Leave him there to “talk’ with the neighbors.
That is a very rough part of town.
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