Suicide’s an ugly thing, and you can help prevent it

(Editor’s note: Portions of this blog may be too graphic for some readers.)

Something that you don’t hear about in the news — because it is generally deemed not newsworthy, unless there is absolutely nothing else going on — is suicide calls.

A lot of people kill themselves. Unless you knew them or knew of them, you really don’t hear about it.

The latest was this week in north Sandy Springs. A man, about 30-something, with mounting debt and a failed marriage, walked back into a wooded area next to an apartment tennis court and shot himself. His body was in the woods about two days before a meter-reader found him. After a couple of days, it’s not a pretty sight.

When you get a call like this, it obviously comes over as a “body found,” so it’s a crime scene. The first responders, after determining the victim is dead, set up a crime scene. Thanks to radio scanners, it takes about five minutes before the media folks from the assignment desk call.  Once you tell them it was a suicide, they retreat because they generally don’t cover suicides unless it has an odd twist like murder-suicide.

It has always perplexed me as to what it must be like to be at the final place and time that a person decides to go ahead and do it. Men typically shoot themselves. Women, for the most part, prefer to overdose. People kill themselves for a variety of reasons. Money is the most common.

People don’t see the end of the road. Or maybe they do. They just don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, I guess.

A number of child molestation suspects, on the eve of their court dates, have taken their lives. I guess you could say that‘s a guilty plea.

Whatever the reason, it amazes me. What was going through their mind the second they pulled the trigger?

Here’s another something not well known. There are those who can even screw up a suicide. Many years ago, the cops got a call from a friend of a man who said he was going to kill himself. The officers knocked on the door. No answer. They knocked again and heard a gunshot. The bullet came through the door about a foot over the head of the first officer. The officers then heard a second shot.

Later, when they made the entry into the apartment, they found the man, dead of a gunshot wound. What had happened was evident by the grazing wound at the top of the victim’s head. He had missed with the first shot, probably by flinching at the last moment. The round scraped the top of his head and then went through the front door. He corrected his aim with the second shot.

Another man, who suspected his girlfriend was cheating on him, went to her condo where she and her friend (turned out she wasn’t cheating on him) were talking. He shot them both dead, then turned the gun on himself. He shot himself under his chin with the barrel facing upwards, obviously intending the bullet to go north to do the maximum damage. Instead, the round went straight up the front of his face, damaging a lot of his face and especially his sinuses. He didn’t die. It was not a pretty sight when he made his first court appearance.

Depression is an evil thing and it takes people to a place where they believe that death is the answer. That’s why it is important for friends and family to do something to help someone deep in depression.

When people talk about suicide, it’s not just an attention-getter like we used to believe. Don’t let that stuff go unnoticed. Call someone. Call the doctor or even a hotline.

But do something.