South Euclid police use WhatsApp to help prevent man's suicide

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio - South Euclid police credit thorough police work and social media for saving a life.

On Monday around 10 p.m., officers received a call about a 23-year-old man believed to be suicidal.

Police said the man’s friend called to alert them. She said he had sent her messages threatening to end his life.

"According to the message, he was going to go off into a secluded area in the woods and ingest rat poison,” said Euclid police officer Joe Di-Lillo. "This isn't the first one of these that I’ve been on."
 
Di-Lillo had the woman call her friend after police had trouble reaching him. She called him using the video calling feature on an app called WhatsApp.
 
"We saw in the background that he was at Notre Dame College. It’s a very distinct building,” said Di-Lillo.
 
Once police located him, they detained him and he was taken to a local hospital for treatment.