Rutherford County man shoots himself in parking lot of Murfreesboro hospital

Jul 13, 2017 at 01:14 pm by bryan


A man evidently shot himself in the parking lot of Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital in Murfreesboro on Tuesday morning. When police arrived, the man was already in a room and being treated. Authorities found that the man was alert and conscious when they headed to the room he was admitted to.

The 46 year old Rutherford County man told officers that he has been having suicidal thoughts for the past 7 weeks. He even stated that he thought about moving forward with committing suicide two weeks ago, but decided not to. He also said that he told his *psychiatrist several times about the thoughts he had been having, but no help was offered, according to a police report (See below).

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On Tuesday (7/11/17) of this week the man advised that he was tired of life and the feelings he was having, so he pulled his car into the parking lot of the hospital, wrapped his 22-caliber gun in two shirts to make it quieter, and shot himself in the shoulder hoping to hit a main artery.

After the man shot himself, he walked into the hospital on his own seeking help.

Police got consent from the man to look at his cellphone and learned that he had been researching the veins found in the human shoulder, prior to pulling the trigger. In the mans truck, officers recovered the pistol the man used to shoot himself.

The man is expected to recover.

Doctors or counselors are required to report those who threaten suicide:

(a) If a service recipient has communicated to a qualified mental health professional or behavior analyst an actual threat of serious bodily harm or death against a reasonably identifiable victim or victims, the qualified mental health professional or behavior analyst, using the reasonable skill, knowledge, and care ordinarily possessed and exercised by the professional's specialty under similar circumstances, who has determined or reasonably should have determined that the service recipient has the apparent ability to commit such an act and is likely to carry out the threat unless prevented from doing so, shall immediately report the service recipient to local law enforcement, who shall take appropriate action based upon the information reported.

Suicide and attempts to commit suicide are on the increase:

The CDC reports the spike in suicide numbers started in 2008. The same report shows that whites and Native Americans are about two to three times more likely to commit suicide than any other group in America.

The Tennessee Department of Health reported this year, "In any given day, three people in Tennessee die by suicide."

If you are having a crisis, text "TN" to "741741" or call 1-800-273-8255. You can also call the local crisis line at 615-244-7444.

New law mandates more training for those who work with people who attempt suicide:

llis Suicide Prevention Training Act of 2017. The law is schedule to take effect January 1, 2020.

The new law assures that between now and the inaction date, those who are licensed to work with this type of patient must have the required training to maintain their licensing. Further it assures that counselors in Tennessee will be trained to help patients through a suicide crisis.

Source:

MPD Incident 17-14642

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