RUMFORD — A local woman threatening to kill herself with a knife just after noon Thursday in a Maine Avenue apartment caused a short standoff with police before she was taken into custody, police said.

The woman had a small, self-inflicted abrasion on her wrist, Rumford police Chief Stacy Carter said. She was taken by Med-Care Ambulance to Rumford Hospital for treatment and evaluation, he said.

The incident began at 12:15 p.m. when Rumford police were sent to an apartment at 25 Maine Ave. to check on a suicidal 39-year-old woman armed with a knife, he said. The officers found the woman in an apartment holding a knife to her throat and she told the officers to shoot her, Carter said.

With help from Mexico and Dixfield police, two Oxford County deputy sheriffs and Rumford Public Works and the Fire Department, police cordoned off the area. Firefighters assisted with traffic control.

“An officer did attempt to taze her, but was unsuccessful,” Carter said.

A 30-minute standoff ensued while Rumford officers tried to negotiate with the woman.

“We had contact with her the whole time, but she wasn’t complying with instructions,” Carter said.

Eventually, they were able to take her into custody and cleared the scene by 12:46 p.m., he said.

It was the third time in 2½ weeks that a Taser was unsuccessfully used in an attempt to subdue a suicidal woman.

Late afternoon on March 18, Jessica Byrn-Francisco, 25, of 77 Maine Ave., called a crisis hotline threatening to commit suicide, Carter said. The crisis center contacted police and Rumford police Sgt. Tracey Higley and another officer were sent to the apartment complex.

Carter said police discovered Byrn-Francisco wielding a knife in the backyard of the three-story apartment complex. Both officers tried unsuccessfully to use their Tasers to stun the woman, Carter said.

Byrn-Francisco attempted to rush Higley with her knife raised, Carter said, and Higley shot her twice.

She was taken by ambulance to Rumford Hospital and later flown to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston where she was initially listed in serious condition. She was later released.

Since the shooting, Higley has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure, as the Maine Attorney General’s Office investigates the shooting.

“We have a lot of mental health issues in this town, but they seem to be getting a little worse,” Carter said.

“We deal with mental health crises each week and sometimes daily. It’s not that we’re seeing more, they’re just getting a little more elevated (in the danger).”

Carter said the 25 Maine Ave. case remains under investigation by Rumford police.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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