There were some tense moments last week at the William Way LGBT Community Center when a man threatened to commit suicide by jumping from the building’s roof.
A center employee who works on the building’s fourth floor noticed a door to the roof was open at about 8:30 p.m. July 28 and, once he went up to look around, spotted a man standing on the roof, threatening to jump.
The staff person notified police and remained on the roof with the 26-year-old male until officers arrived, which center executive director Chris Bartlett said was within minutes.
Bartlett said the center’s staff remained calm and assisted police and he noted that facilities coordinator, Phillip Prillman, was particularly helpful in leading police to the section of the roof where the man was positioned.
Within a half-hour, a special unit of the Police Department that handles suicide threats was deployed, whose specialists persuaded the man to leave the roof.
Police spokesperson Officer Tanya Russell said police usually take individuals in such situations to crisis centers, although she not could confirm if and where the man was transported.
Bartlett said it’s still unclear why the man chose the roof of the center. He said he didn’t know the man and wasn’t sure if he was a member of the center.
“I got there about five minutes after he went upstairs, but I don’t know who he was,” Bartlett said.
There were meetings going on in the building that night, but Bartlett said he was unsure if the man had been present at any.
— Jen Colletta