Suicidal Veteran Asks Police Negotiators to Speak With NBC 6's Willard Shepard

Suicidal Veteran Asks Police Negotiators to Speak With NBC 6's Willard Shepard
As police negotiators tried to keep a Vietnam veteran from jumping off a highway ledge Monday morning, the man told officers he wanted to speak with reporter Willard Shepard.
NBC 6 South Florida
By Alexandra Leon
Tuesday, Nov 12, 2013

A suicidal Vietnam veteran facing deportation straddled himself over a ledge on a South Florida highway ramp with a rope around his neck in an hours-long standoff before surrendering to authorities Monday morning.

As police negotiators tried to keep 59-year-old Fredy Gutierrez from jumping, the vet told officers he wanted to speak with NBC 6 reporter Willard Shepard, an Air Force officer who had been in combat over Iraq.

"As I was driving to the police command center this morning, I was able to communicate with Mr. Gutierrez through the police negotiator who had him on the phone," Shepard said. "It was very clear Gutierrez had reached a point where he couldn’t take it anymore and later said to me he prepared to die today."

Shepard said that he spoke to Gutierrez in military terms as he was on the phone with him, trying to make him see that taking his own life or harming other wouldn't improve his situation and would only make matters worse for his family.
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