Deputies stop two from killing selves

By CAMILLE C. SPENCER
Published May 3, 2007

By nightfall Tuesday, both people were aiming to end their lives.

One held a 16-gauge double-barrelled shotgun to his head.

The other cut both her wrists with a steak knife and bit a deputy who tried to restrain her.

But in both incidents, Pasco deputies risked their lives to keep others from killing themselves. Here's what they did, according to reports from the Sheriff's Office:

The first incident began about 5 p.m. on Second Isle Drive in Hudson.

A 44-year-old man called a friend, threatening suicide. When the friend arrived at the man's home, he was sitting in the shower.

The barrel of the shotgun was in his mouth. His finger was on the trigger.

The man said he had marital problems and didn't want to live anymore.

Someone called 911. Soon deputies Erica Nartker, Marshall DeBerry and Robert Tedeschi arrived, guns drawn.

They crept into the bathroom. DeBerry used his Taser, and the jolt caused the muzzle of the shotgun to swing toward him. DeBeery grabbed it and pulled the gun away from the distraught man, who was taken to a local hospital.

The second incident began about the same time on Orleans Lane in Port Richey.

A 76-year-old woman called her brother, said she was going to kill herself, and hung up the phone.

When her brother called back, the woman's 86-year-old husband answered. The brother told him what the woman said, so her husband called 911.

While he was on the phone with a dispatcher, the woman began cutting her wrists with kitchen knives. She screamed that she wanted to die. While on the phone, her husband tried to restrain her.

When Deputy Chet Cougill arrived, the woman was standing outside her house dragging two black suitcases. When she saw Cougill's vehicle, she dropped the suitcases, ran inside and locked the door.

The woman eventually unlocked the door, and Cougill came in. She refused to drop the knives.

Then she walked toward the deputy, knives in hand, screaming. As she got closer, Cougill grabbed her wrists and shook the knives from her hands. The knives fell to the floor.

The woman slipped and fell. Cougill held on to her wrists, trying to restrain her.

She bit his left forearm.

Both the woman and the deputy were treated at local hospitals.

[Last modified May 2, 2007, 23:50:42]