Report: Man lured Mass. State Police trooper to home for ‘suicide by cop’

An investigation has determined that a man shot and killed by a Massachusets State Police trooper lured officers to his residence in an effort to die through “suicide by cop.”

Phillip Henault, placed a E-911 call at about 6:53 a.m. on Sept. 9 falsely reporting that his brother was coming at him with knives. He then locked himself in the bathroom of the home at 145 Richmond Road in Hancock, according to the Massachusetts State Police-Berkshire Detective Unit.

Police said he cut his own wrist before calling 911.  

The trooper found him in the garage of the home at 145 Richmond Road with two butcher knives. He tells Henault to drop the knives and Henault can be heard saying “I’m gonna kill someone” and “shoot me” on the body camera footage, which was shown at a news conference on Friday afternoon.

Henault then exited the residence as the trooper was telling him repeatedly to drop the knives. Henault kept getting closer and ignored repeated commands to stop. Then, the trooper fired his handgun twice to stop Henault and killed him.