BRADENTON BEACH – Four agencies responded to a suicide attempt by an armed man on May 24 on the erosion control groins at Cortez Beach known as Twin Piers.
Responding to a 911 call at 12:26 p.m. about an attempted suicide in progress, Officer John Tsakiri and Lt. Lenard Diaz of the Bradenton Beach Police Department found a man sitting on the end of the pier with Manatee County Marine Rescue and EMS workers, according to their police report.
The man reportedly had asked a number of people to leave, including a grandmother and her young grandchild.
“I saw the way he was sitting with his right arm and hand between his legs, and I felt strongly he had a gun in that hand,” Tsakiri said. “I took out my binoculars to get a better look, but due to the way he was sitting, I still couldn’t see the gun. Lt. Diaz and I were walking towards the subject with our weapons drawn when we got a call on the radio from the MSO (Manatee County Sheriff’s Office) Marine Boat confirming he was holding a gun.”
After receiving confirmation that the subject was armed, both officers jumped off the cement pier to take cover behind it. Diaz continued to call to the armed man to put down the gun so they could talk, but the man continued to point it at his chest and head, screaming loudly at times and refusing the officer’s request.
“The last thing we wanted was for anyone to get hurt, but after continuing to ignore our commands, and at one point starting to stand up, I told Lt. Diaz that if he pointed the gun at us, I would have no choice but to engage him with my firearm,” Tsakiri said.
After sitting back down facing the water on the end of the pier, the armed man leaned forward and fell into the water as a gunshot was heard.
“I ran up to the water expecting to see blood in the water, but there was nothing. I didn’t see any wounds or blood. He missed,” Tsakiri said.
A Marine Rescue worker jumped in the water and recovered the man, who, after being brought to shore, was determined to be unharmed. He was transported to HCA Florida Blake Hospital in a Baker Act action taken by police.
The gun was recovered by Marine Rescue Capt. Joe Westerman, who found it in the water near the scene of the incident. The 9 mm automatic handgun had eight live rounds remaining when it was recovered.
Tsakiri spoke to the man at Blake, who said he never wanted to harm anyone other than himself. He said he had been let go from his job in Sarasota earlier in the day and had not contacted his parents or girlfriend to inform them of his intentions to harm himself, according to the police report. No charges were filed.
