GI threatens suicide over return to Iraq

Connecticut Post/Frank Washkuch | November 30 2004

STRATFORD — A serviceman, apparently distraught over the prospect of being sent back to the war in Iraq, threatened to kill himself as he stood naked and screaming outside his house.

Police took the man into custody at his Fernwood Drive house. He was taken for treatment to Bridgeport Hospital.

Dispatched to investigate a report of a possible suicide attempt Thursday, officers saw the man naked with blood on his body in front of the garage area, police said. As officers approached, the man yelled at them and ran back into the house, according to police.

After struggling with officers, the man told police that he was scheduled to be sent back to Iraq in January, but didn't want to because he would be forced to kill more people, police said.

The man, who said that he had been drinking, told officers that "he just wanted to die," police said.

After Stratford Emergency Medical Services transported the man to Bridgeport Hospital, he attempted to grab a guard by the throat before he was subdued and placed in restraints, police said.

Officers recovered a kitchen knife, a pair of metal clamps, green ropes and suicide notes covered with blood from the house, according to police.

John Cappiello, a hospital spokesman, said veterans can get psychiatric counseling from either the hospital or a Veterans Affairs facility, depending on their duty status.

The hospital has numerous doctors on staff with experience in veterans' issues, he said.

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