Quote Originally Posted by mommanessy247 View Post
well see the thing is...suicide attempts are simply a cry for help.

Lgray23 - i'm not trying to be rude or anything and i understand that you work with the law enforcement but seriously i have to say, unless your a cop and have actually been in a situation involving a mentally unstable person, you really cant sit there and say you know what it's like to deal with it. i was RAISED by a cop, and just like you, have heard countless horror stories as well but even i would not say i know how it is to deal with something like that. i'm not saying i dont discount the cops fears, heck, they were probably going over the pros/cons in the event they decided to make the 1st move to save the guy. i think the worst situation for a cop, and i've heard them say it's the call they dread getting...the situation in which someone is armed and obviously mentally unstable and appears suicidal. 9 x's outta 10, they want the cops to kill them (suicide by cop) so they dont have to do it themselves. people have been killed because they pointed a weapon at a cop, forcing the cop to defend himself. i've heard, from my dad, that he saw one of his fellow officers kill a man for that very reason and sadly the perps gun was empty and my dad has seen numerous cops seriously injured and a couple killed because they didnt fire their weapon soon enough, they hesitated too long.
so yeah, i can understand the cops nervousness but in the end everyone on that shore made the ultimate decision to just stand by and watch.
of course the news only shows 1 side of things. it's what get them their high ratings. show only what will get everyone's attention.
what we dont know is if the guy in the water threatened to harm anyone who would try to save him hence causing everyone to not want to take that risk. that's an understandable reason to hesitate on the shore.
Actually...I do have first hand experience with mentally unstable people. Have you ever had someone blow their head off with a shotgun with you on the phone? I think not...you don't have to be there physically to know first hand what it's like to deal with these people...

True story.