OXON HILL, Md. (AP) - A teen has died in police custody in Maryland after authorities say he stabbed himself in the neck while riding in a vehicle with his mother.
The Washington Post reports that the unidentified 17-year-old died Sunday. The incident occurred in Prince George’s County.
The teen’s mother told police that she was driving from Virginia to their home in Oxon Hill around midnight when he began acting erratically and stabbing himself with a weapon. She stopped the vehicle on Indian Head Highway south of the Capital Beltway where officers were investigating an unrelated crash.
Police said the woman asked the officers for help and said her son was trying to kill her. Police said the teen was running in the street and trying to enter other vehicles. He was initially compliant before lashing out and scuffling with officers.
Police said the officers believed they saw a weapon before using a stun gun to restrain him. The officers discovered “two large puncture wounds” in his neck. He later died at a hospital.
The boy’s death is being investigated by the county police department’s Special Investigative Response Team. It handles cases in which a civilian may have been injured by police use of force.
Authorities are also awaiting the results of an autopsy.
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