Court Records Show Man Shot in Wheelchair by Delaware Police Had Been Previously Suicidal

Court Records show a Wilmington, Del., man who reportedly shot himself and refused commands to drop his weapon before being killed by police while in his wheelchair had previously expressed suicidal thoughts and had a history of being combative with police.

Court records reviewed by The Associated Press show Jeremy McDole, 28, who had at least 16 arrests, expressed suicidal behavior in 2010 and was accused of being combative with law enforcement. In pleading guilty in 2011 to a drug charge, McDole was given a form asking him several questions, including whether he had ever been a mental hospital patient. His public defender responded affirmatively, adding in parentheses: "2010 Suicidal." Public defender Kester Crosse also indicated McDole was taking the antidepressants Cymbalta and Zoloft at the time of the plea.

A criminal history form included in another of McDole's case files noted that he "will resist police." The file shows that McDole had a juvenile adjudication for resisting arrest and other crimes in 2004, and that he was charged with resisting arrest in connection with a 2009 drug charge. The latter resisting charge was dropped in a plea deal. In that incident, a police officer wrote that McDole repeatedly pulled his arms away from officers trying to take him into custody, and fought with officers after arriving at a police station. "DON'T DISRESPECT ME!" he shouted as officers tried to prevent him from putting his hands in his crotch area, according to the report.

Law enforcement officials also said in court records that McDole, who was shot in the back by an associate in 2005, used his wheelchair to hide things.