*** NEW HN VIDEO *** HIGHWAY STANDOFF: Woman with knife had...

YARMOUTH – The woman who led three agencies on a pursuit last evening had recent ideations of “suicide by cop,” according to police radio transmissions.

The pursuit started in Yarmouth, in the area of Buck Island Road and Winslow Gray Road last evening, sometime around 8:20 p.m.. A Yarmouth Police patrolman announced he had a Jeep failing to stop. Upon further investigation, responding Yarmouth Police officers learned the driver was someone they had recently dealt with for having ideations of suicide by cop. The woman was known to have knives inside the vehicle.

The pursuit travelled westerly along Buck Island Road as other YPD units joined the pursuit. By all accounts, the driver was traveling about 40 miles per hour (only slightly over the speed limit) while managing to stay within marked lanes. The Jeep eventually turned right onto Camp Street in West Yarmouth, traveling north toward Route 6. Massachusetts State Troopers began responding after being notified of the situation. And as the pursuit turned onto the Route 6, traveling west, Barnstable Police officers also began responding toward the highway.

While travelling along Route 6, the suspect vehicle reportedly remained under (or around) the posted speed limit, while still showing no signs that it was going to pull over and stop.

The pursuit continue to travel west along Route 6 through the towns of Yarmouth and Barnstable. State police were able to set up and deploy “stop sticks” after the pursuit entered the Town of Sandwich, still on Route 6. As you will hear in the following Barnstable Police radio transmissions, all four tires of the suspect vehicle were flattened after running over the state police stop sticks.

The vehicle slowed and came to a stop on Route 6 westbound, straddling both travel lanes, a short distance prior to Exit 61 (the old Exit 3), in Sandwich. Route 6 westbound was completely shut down for about half an hour or more. One HN reader posted he “was stuck in traffic for 40 minutes.”

There was now a standoff as officers on scene tried to conduct a high risk stop. Having the situation end peacefully was paramount. One trooper radioed that the woman had a knife. This concerned all on scene because of her known recent ideations to commit suicide by cop.

Officers familiar with the woman tried to safely talk her out of the situation while additional resources responded to the highway in Sandwich. Including a Barnstable Police K9 unit, which had to carefully weave its way through stopped Sunday evening traffic in order to arrive on scene. A Sandwich FD Rescue ambulance also responded and staged a short distance west of the scene, at Exit 61.

As you will hear in the following HN Video presentation, at around 9:02 p.m., the Barnstable Police K9 officer announced that the woman was in custody. It was now safe for the Sandwich FD ambulance to respond by traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes toward the blocked off highway a short distance away. There were no reported injuries according to radio traffic. The tense scene had concluded successfully. The distraught woman was on her way to a local hospital.

The state troopers on scene began dealing what had become a significant traffic backup. One lane was eventually reopened as a tow truck, which also had been staging nearby, gradually made its way toward the scene. The suspect vehicle was removed from the highway and traffic flow eventually returned to normal.

HN NOTES: The above details are based on witness statements and separate radio traffic from three police agencies, the Yarmouth Police, the Massachusetts State Police, and the Barnstable Police. The following HN Video only contains Barnstable Police radio transmissions because I was away from my vehicle’s radio systems at the time. Two HN readers sent in brief video clips taken while they were sitting in traffic. Near the end of the video, you can hear both readers having some levity toward the end of a dangerous situation which fortunately ended peacefully. Numerous motorists and passengers were inadvertently detained and inconvenienced by having to sit in traffic as the scene slowly unfolded. But all in all, the situation went as smoothly as possible. Had it ended tragically, the waiting likely would have been longer. The entire situation could have turned out much worse. HN will provide official updated details as they become available.

[HN VIDEO – PRESS PLAY]