SALEM — Sen. Alan Bates has been involved in some tense negotiations at the state Capitol, but none moreso than Monday when he attempted to "talk down" a distraught Salem man who entered the Senate chambers and threatened to kill himself with a knife.

The man, identified as Boyd A. Owens, 54, walked into the chambers at about 11:15 a.m., just as the Senate was about to convene. He carried a long knife that he held against his own throat and chest.

Bates, D-Ashland, said when he walked onto the floor, he saw the man was "obviously deranged" and appeared to be more of a danger to himself than to others. Bates said he decided to see if he could reason with Owens.

"Because of my medical background, I thought that maybe I could talk him down," Bates said.

Bates said he was standing about 30 feet from Owens, who was sitting on the rostrum shouting and throwing microphones, books and paper. The man said his application for state services had not been acted on and he demanded to speak to the governor.

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Bates said the man was apparently unwilling to listen.

"He kept telling me to shut up and quit talking, and he used some other words I won’t repeat," Bates said.

Meanwhile a SWAT team arrived and was able to take the man into custody without incident. He was charged with criminal mischief, menacing and disorderly conduct and taken to the Oregon State Hospital for evaluation.

"The SWAT team did an exemplary job," Bates said.

Asked if he was scared, Bates said wasn’t because the man’s only weapon was the knife.

"I didn’t think about that," he said. "You just do what you have to do."

It would have been a different story if the man had a gun, he added.

The incident occurred on the same day that NAMI, a major mental health advocacy organization, put up displays and held a news conference at the Capitol on its legislative goals.

An obviously shaken Senate President Peter Courtney described how the man entered through the main door of the chamber and walked up the center aisle to the front desk.

The desk was staffed by the chief clerk and her assistants. According to Bates, the only other senator in the chamber at the time was Bill Morrisette, a Eugene Democrat. Morrisette was sitting on the side aisle and was able to slip out.

Courtney and House and Senate legislative leaders met Monday after the incident to discuss security at the Capitol.

Don Jepsen is a free-lance writer living in Salem. The Associated Press also contributed to this story.