A potential river suicide was averted following “lengthy” police negotiations with a distraught man standing on the ice along the Yukon River near Shipyards Park on Monday afternoon.
At 4:15 p.m., the RCMP received a report of a partially clothed man threatening to commit suicide by jumping into the river.
Officers negotiated with the 24-year-old man from Atlin and Ross River and convinced him to be taken to Whitehorse General Hospital by Emergency Medical Services.
An RCMP “critical incident” negotiator was dispatched to the scene, but the situation was resolved before the officer could take action.
The fire department and ambulance services were also present at the scene. Fire officials were positioned downstream with throw ropes and poles to rescue the man had he jumped in.
Vehicle rollover
kills Whitehorse man
A 47-year-old Whitehorse man is dead after he lost control of his pickup and drove into the ditch along the Alaska Highway south of the M’Clintock River Bridge near Marsh Lake on Monday afternoon.
The man, who died at the scene, was partially ejected from the vehicle, but police could not determine whether failure to wear a seatbelt had been a factor in the crash or the man’s death.
Speed or alcohol have not been ruled as causes of the crash, but “all factors are being considered,” said RCMP media spokesperson Sgt. Glenn Ramsay.
The driver was the only occupant of the vehicle, and no other vehicles were involved in the crash.
Contact Tristin Hopper at tristinh@yukon-news.com