EUREKA, Calif. – Northern California authorities on Saturday found a suicidal man who they say forced his way into a closed Kmart store and briefly took a janitor hostage before fleeing.
Police said the incident began shortly after 6: 30 a.m. Saturday when a man wearing black boxer underwear and a T-shirt banged on the doors of the closed department store in Eureka, a coastal community about 300 miles north of San Francisco near the Oregon border. The man was wet and muddy and told the janitor he played football at nearby College of the Redwoods community college. The man is described as 18-year-old, 6-feet, 4-inches tall and weighing 280 pounds.
After the janitor opened the door, the man grabbed the janitor and said that he needed a weapon to kill himself. He picked up a pair of scissors and ordered the janitor to strip and forced him into the store's bathroom.
The man then sat down in a chair outside the bathroom with the scissors. The janitor said he could hear the man cry out in pain and peaked through a cracked door to see the man cutting himself on both arms with the scissors. The man then fled the store.
At about the same time, police received a phone call from a Eureka woman who said her son was suicidal and missing from home.
The Eureka Police Department announced Saturday afternoon they found the man southeast of the city.
Police didn't say exactly where they found the man or release his name. He is undergoing medical care.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
