Merrill Police Chief releases new details about Tuesday’s large response

MERRILL, Wis. (WSAW) - Merrill’s Police Chief has released new details about an incident that prompted a large response from police on Tuesday.

Chief Corey Bennett said officers responded to the area of Grand Avenue and State Street around 3 p.m. for a person who made personal threats indicating they wanted the police to cause them harm.

According to a news release the person was armed with bladed weapons.

During an interview with NewsChannel 7 on Tuesday, police believed alcohol was involved. Bennett said, ”Over a lengthy period of time we tried to talk the individual out with no success, and eventually a threat assessment was completed and we made a decision to de-escalate the situation and disengage.”

Investigators said the person was not a known threat to the community, had no known felonies involved, and other people in the home were in safe locations.

On Wednesday afternoon, the person voluntarily cooperated with law enforcement and was detained.

No other details are being released at this time.