Police officers in two states have recently helped distraught suicidal men change their minds about taking their own lives.
Police heroism is rarely making headlines these days amid the political climate in the U.S. But one police officer from Massachusetts went viral over the weekend when he helped a distraught man on the Tobin Bridge and talked him out of taking his own life.
In a Facebook update dated June 5, the Massachusetts State Police shared a photo of Police Trooper Paul O'Connor consoling a distraught man who he had just talked out of committing suicide on the Tobin Bridge. At noon, Boston and Chelsea responded to a scene at the bridge where a man was threatening to jump from the southbound upper deck.
Distraught Boston Man Attempted to Take His Own Life
According to patrols, the man crossed over the barrier and was standing on the edge of the bridge, contemplating jumping off it. O'Connor, Sergeant Peter Sennott, and Trooper Randy Roach "established trust and communication" with the distraught man and within 30 minutes, convinced him to step over the fence to the roadside.
O'Connor then sat and consoled the man, who was later taken to a Boston hospital for evaluation. Sgt. Sennott and a trooper patrol supervisor who was a member of the Crisis Negotiation Unit escorted the man in the ambulance as well. The police department urged the public to seek help when dealing with mental health problems in the hopes of raising awareness.
Man's Life Seen as a Gift of God
The Massachusett police's heroic act in saving a man from one wrong decision is a reminder about how life is precious because it is "not our own to take" because it is a "gift of God" and therefore we must "submit to Him," as written in Scripture, Faithpot reported. In fact, in Proverbs 3:5-6, the Bible says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
The Boston man's attempted suicide is just one of hundreds if not thousands of mental health cases across America today. Unfortunately, not many suicide attempts that result from mental health problems are thwarted by heroic police officers. Those that are prevented, however, are rarely celebrated. In New Jersey, Toms River Police Chief Mitch Little told 92.7 WOBM that there had been a high call volume for attempted suicides in the town recently.
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Chief Little described how people are "in deep depression suffering a lot of mental illness and threatening suicide" and that men in blue are "handling over 100 suicide attempts a month." In fact, just this week on Wednesday, Toms River Police responded to a scene between Northampton Boulevard and Executive Drive, where a distraught man who appeared to be struggling with mental health problems was holding a shotgun to his head, attempting to take his own life.
According to police, the distraught suicidal man stepped out of his truck, left the door open and began acting erratically as he was holding a shotgun, witnesses said. The man complied with police orders and said he had no intention of harming anyone but himself. He was then taken to the Community Medical Center for a mental health evaluation. Chief Little said that the job of preventing people from taking their own lives does not solely rely on the man in blue, but social workers as well who "have to deal with these situations on all levels."
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