Student Calls 911 w/Suicide Threat While Driving then Killed by Police

[Debb]

This is a horrible event that happened in my state. The link provides the 911 tape of the 21 year-old student/Fraternity President who called 911 while driving his car on a major highway. He told the 911 operator that he had a gun and intended to kill himself. Police located the vehicle and pulled him over. Details of what happened next are not clear, except the young man was shot and killed by police. The incident is under investigation.

Friends and family are shocked. He seemed fine to those around him, but on the tape he says the reasons he wanted to kill himself had been emailed to his parents.

I'm not sure what to make of this. Someone has said it was suicide by cop. I have heard reports that the officer had a camera on the front of his patrol car, so the incident should be taped. Perhaps that will shed some light on what really happened.

I feel for the boys family and the officer as well.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1663884.html

[Kip]

A very sad situation all around. I listened to the 911 call. The young man was obviously drunk and was continuing to drink -- IMO, he was numbing himself and trying to drink himself to death. I'm getting the impression that he must have done something that he was deeply ashamed of and couldn't face his parents and everyone else. That's doubly sad if true, because it shows that deep down underneath he was a decent guy and, barring murder and child abuse, he could have paid his debt to society and gone on to live a productive life.

I feel for the officers too. That's such a hard situation for officers to deal with.

[Debb]

Yesterday his father said that his son had too much pressure on him. Not sure if there were details in the emails the boy refers to in the tape. Perhaps there was a mental health background involved too.