FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The man accused in the cannibalism slaying of a homeless Bridgeport man tried to take his own life in Fairfield weeks before his arrest, police said Thursday. Tyree Lincoln Smith was arrested Wednesday in connection with the Bridgeport homicide. But two weeks ago, police said, they found him in a Fairfield pharmacy, cutting his wrists with a box cutter.

According to reports in the Connecticut Post, Bridgeport Police found the body of Angel Gonzalez last week in a Bridgeport home. Investigators determined that Gonzalez had been murdered on Dec. 15 and that part of his brain had been eaten. Smith, 35, was arrested in Florida Wednesday in connection with the slaying.

On Jan. 12, the manager of the CVS Pharmacy at 1968 Black Rock Turnpike called police to report a man cutting his wrists in a store aisle. Store employees managed to get the box cutter out of his hands before police arrived, but when an officer arrived he was “bleeding profusely,” according to the report.

The store’s pharmacist told police the man came to his counter before the incident. He had been discharged from St. Vincent’s Hospital three days earlier, and had come to fill prescriptions. When asked for insurance information, he began searching through his bag. After about 25 minutes of looking, he “disappeared,” according to the pharmacist. Another employee later found him in an aisle.

Police searched the man and found information identifying him as Smith. He was taken to the hospital and referred to the Greater Bridgeport Community Mental Health Center for evaluation.

Fairfield Police Chief Gary MacNamara noted that the incident in Fairfield occurred before Bridgeport cops discovered the victim’s body. He added that the information from Fairfield would be sent to Bridgeport’s investigators.

“It just goes to show you that each and every time one of our officers responds to a call, we don’t always have all the background,” MacNamara said. "Our officers go to help someone, and unbeknownst to them, this guy later will be a suspect in a gruesome murder."