A man attempting suicide by jumping off the roof of Chabad House
early Monday morning was successfully coaxed down thanks to a group
effort by local law enforcement.
Los Angeles Police Department Sergeant Christian Hansen said the
individual called his mother in San Francisco once he was already
on top of the Chabad House at roughly 6:30 a.m.
He reportedly told her that he was depressed and wanted to jump
to his death.
“We came, and he was on the roof,” Hansen said.
Chabad House, a Jewish community center that also houses a
synagogue, is a four-story high ex-fraternity house across from the
UCLA campus near the intersection of Gayley and Le Conte
avenues.
According to the house’s Web site, it is “a center
opened to all people, open 24 hours a day.” The site adds
that it is a place for gathering and seeking counseling.
Soon after the individual placed his call, the fire department
arrived with two air mattresses, roughly two ladder trucks and
three other engines.
University police and the West L.A. Division of LAPD intervened
as well.
The street area surrounding Le Conte Avenue was blocked off
temporarily, and a command post was set up, Hansen said.
Two officers who were part of a Crisis Intervention Team, Rich
Alcala and Alan Parra, stayed on the roof counseling the individual
until he agreed to come down with them at about 8 a.m.
The Crisis Intervention Team is part of a program introduced
where the federal government trains officers specifically to deal
with the mentally ill.
Once down, the man was taken by fire fighters to the UCLA
hospital.
The man is set to be on hold at the hospital for two weeks.
According to Hansen, people who threaten suicide are usually
kept at the hospital for only 72 hours, and it is unusual for
someone to be under supervision for longer.