STUART, Fla. -- We are hearing from a Stuart police officer for the first time since he talked down a suicidal woman with a knife at their station Tuesday.
The whole exchange captured on his body camera.
"Hello," Officer TJ Delancy says to a 65-year-old woman in distress as he walks into the Stuart police station.
He asks, "You want to talk to a news reporter?"
Fifteen seconds later the situation escalates when she pulls a 10-12 inch knife out of her pants.
"No!" you can hear the 12-year SPD officer tell as he backs off.
He radios for help, "We got a female out here with a knife to her throat. Send the other units."
Too risky to be any closer, his calming influence buys some time for backup.
"Drop the knife mam, please drop the knife. Please," he pleads. "I'm going to send help your way. I'm sending help your way."
He averts a near disaster as a bystander tries to walk in.
"Sir do not enter. Don't enter!" He shouts to the man.
Seconds later the woman puts the knife to her throat.
"The voices told me to kill myself," she says.
"No don't do that," he replies.
With time running out, backup arrives and Sgt. Ortado tells Officer Delancy he's here and runs through a back room to the other side of the lobby.
"We will help you but you have to throw the knife away," he tells her.
On her knees, she's banging the knife on the ground as Officer Sudoff arrives from the outside, and Ortado on the left.
She drops it there and Ortado boots it away. The triangle of help closes in ending this nearly deadly situation peacefully.
"We're going to get you some help," Delancy says to her as they put her arms behind her back.
"Just revert back to my training and everything went well," he says looking back. We watched the video back with him. He says given the circumstances, this couldn't have gone any better.
No one gets hurt and that's exactly what happened. She was apologetic. She said, 'I'm a really nice person, you know? Just some somethings she was going there. She's a great person."
The woman was taken to the hospital for a mental evaluation under the Baker Act.
It's possible for the two to be reunited. If that happens, we'll let you know.
