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Suicide prevention information If you need help: If you are in crisis, call 988 or text “Home” to 741741 for free, 24/7 support from the Crisis Text Line. Or, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). If you want to help: Five steps to help others as well as yourself at Take5tosavelives.org. Please stay: Read survivor stories at Livethroughthis.org: “Our stories can save lives. You are not alone. Please stay.” Local resources: More local resources at Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE) at Save.org. A 27-year-old Forest Lake man was taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul by ambulance with non-life-threatening injuries Sunday night after he was shot with “less-lethal” munitions by Forest Lake police during an altercation that forced an hourlong closure of U.S. Highway 61 in Forest Lake. The incident happened around 10:45 p.m. Sunday night after Forest Lake police received a 911 call from the man stating that he “was armed, wanted to die, and would force officers to kill him,” said Capt. Luke Hanegraaf of the Forest Lake Police Department. The man told police he was in a wooded, swampy area near the southeast intersection of Highway 61 and 11th Avenue, he said. The man, who was found holding a hammer, refused to comply with commands, according to Hannegraf. A trained negotiator contacted the man, but he “ceased communication with the negotiator and began walking towards officers with the hammer,” Hanegraaf said. “He refused to stop or drop the hammer as he advanced.” Police deployed a less-lethal weapon — a pepper-ball launcher — which resulted in the man dropping his weapon, allowing officers to take him into custody, according to Hanegraaf. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the Chisago County Sheriff’s Office, the Wyoming Police Department and the Minnesota State Patrol assisted on the call.
