The man who died in police custody Wednesday shortly after two of his adult relatives were stabbed at a home in Dedham, Massachusetts, has been identified as authorities released new information about the incident Thursday.
The man who died was Samuel Pattillo, a 36-year-old who lived on Jackson Pond Road, the Norfolk District Attorney's Office said Thursday. The two stabbing victims, who remained hospitalized Thursday morning, are both adult relatives of Pattillo, but not married to him.
No weapons appeared to have been fired as the incident unfolded, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said, and noted that an autopsy could reveal Pattillo's cause of death as early as Thursday.
"State Police detectives from the District Attorney’s Office will be working through the night with troopers from the Crime Scene Services Section to process the scene for physical evidence," he said in a statement.
The incident played out Wednesday night on Jackson Pond Road. Prosecutors said police received a 911 call at about 6 p.m. for a stabbing at a home, and when officers arrived, they found two women with stab wounds and a man on the road showing signs of distress.
The man, Pattillo, became combative with the officers after they tried interacting with him, prosecutors said. The officers used less-than-lethal force — a Taser and pepper spray — as they tried took him into custody, at which point they realized he was in distress and began life-saving measures.
"He appeared to be in distress when the neighbors started calling Dedham 911. When the police arrived, they saw the same individual and they tried to take him into custody using a variety of methods as we said to you and they noticed that he was in distress, rendered medical assistance and immediately transported him and when he got to the hospital, he was pronounced dead," Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said in a statement Wednesday night.
Pattillo was pronounced dead at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital Needham, prosecutors said.
Authorities haven't said who stabbed the women or identified them.
