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Police arrest knife-wielding man on Norristown High Speed Line train

Avery Gillis will be charged with terroristic threats, resisting arrest, and related crimes, according to Radnor Township Police.

A man was taken into custody late Monday after threatening people on the Norristown High Speed Line, according to Radnor Township Police.
A man was taken into custody late Monday after threatening people on the Norristown High Speed Line, according to Radnor Township Police.Read moreMARIA PANARITIS / Staff Photographer

A man wielding a knife who threatened passengers on the Norristown High Speed Line late Monday has been charged with terroristic threats and related crimes, police said.

Avery Gillis was taken into custody by Radnor Township police just before 10 p.m. at the County Line Station on County Line Road near Matsonford Road, according to Radnor Township Police Superintendent Christopher Flanagan.

Gillis was charged with terroristic threats, public drunkenness, resisting arrest, and other crimes for fighting with the officers who responded to the scene, Flanagan said. He remained in custody Tuesday, awaiting his arraignment.

Passengers on the train called 911 to report that Gillis was waving a knife around and attempting to goad them into a fight, authorities said. When officers arrived, Gillis refused to drop the knife, they said, and police deployed a Taser to subdue him.

No one on the train was injured, nor were any of the officers who took Gillis into custody.

During the scuffle, Gillis spat blood on responding medics, a crime for which Flanagan said he will face additional charges.