NYPD Officers Stop Man From Committing Suicide At Tribeca Hotel
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An NYPD officer helped keep a man from committing suicide at a hotel in Tribeca early Tuesday.
Officer Theodore Plevritis talked with WCBS 880's Peter Haskell about his encounter with the man at the Sheraton Hotel on Canal Street.
"We got a call for a suicidal male at a hotel – got the call from his mother. She stated that he possibly had a firearm, and he had a plan to kill himself," Plevritis said.
The situation was as dire as it was described. Plevritis said the man told police to go away when they knocked on the door, but officers said they needed to get in and check on him. He told them to go away again, and they finally got into the room using a hotel room key, Plevritis said.
When Plevritis opened the door, he came upon an emergency situation.
"We saw him sitting on the floor at the end of the bed with a revolver pointed at his head," he said.
#NYPD cop Theodore Plevritis describes encountering suicidal man w/ a gun to his head. Man eventually gave up. @wcbs880 @NYPDnews pic.twitter.com/7e5kcUuqxF
— Peter Haskell (@peterhaskell880) February 14, 2017
VIDEO. A suicidal man w/ a gun was 5ft away & #NYPD Theodore Plevritis convinced him to surrender. WATCH him tell what happened. @wcbs880 pic.twitter.com/jG5admxXsM
— Peter Haskell (@peterhaskell880) February 14, 2017
Plevritis was completely exposed, so he just started talking.
"I told him that no matter what was bothering him right now, it wasn't as bad as what he was planning to do," he said.
The 26-year-old man told him everything was going wrong and he had had enough. But after about three tense minutes, the gun was placed on the floor.
"I'm just happy that it worked out in the best possible way," Plevritis said.
The man was charged with gun possession and was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals Bellevue.