BELLINGHAM, Wash. – A Ferndale man expressing a desire for police to kill him was taken into custody after a dangerous confrontation with Bellingham officers.
Police Lt. Claudia Murphy says John C. Rupp called 911 at about 11:30 a.m. Saturday and said he was driving to a police station to attack officers in the hope that they would shoot him.
He told dispatchers that he was driving south on I-5 near Ferndale and all local agencies were put on alert.
At 11:50 a.m. he rammed the driver side of a Bellingham officer’s patrol vehicle as she investigated a traffic accident on Lakeway at Franklin Street.
Rupp brandished a knife as he got out of his vehicle, shouted at the officer and stabbed one of the tires on her vehicle.
She drew her gun and ordered him to drop the knife, which he did, and she talked him down from his agitated condition.
Responding officers took Rupp into custody.
He faces charges of attempted assault, malicious mischief and DUI.
