Teen commits suicide after Costa Mesa police attempt intervention
Costa Mesa police officers work the scene of a standoff with an armed teenager Tuesday morning.
A 16-year-old boy committed suicide Tuesday afternoon after Costa Mesa police attempted to intervene to prevent him from harming himself, authorities said.
Police responded at 8:12 a.m. to an apartment in the 300 block of West Bay Street, where the teen was inside threatening to harm himself with a handgun, Sgt. Clint Dieball said.
Police originally reported that the boy also was threatening to harm his father, whom officers contacted outside the home. But police determined the father was not being threatened, Lt. Vic Bakkila said.
Officers outside the apartment spoke to the boy by phone. The teen was distraught, police said.
When the boy hung up on negotiators, police used a loudspeaker to try to communicate with him, but he did not respond, Bakkila said.
Police reopened Bay Street, and most officers left the scene around noon, after they determined the boy wasn’t a threat to anyone else, according to police.
A small number of officers remained outside the apartment. They called for detectives around 12:30 p.m. after a family member went inside and found that the boy had committed suicide, Lt. Paul Beckman said.
“We did not make entry until after we were aware that the suicide had occurred,” Beckman said.
