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Staff averts teen suicide attempt

The Record-Courier

The staff at the Youth Detention Center at Stateline was credited with averting a suicide Sunday by a 16-year-old Nye County boy who made a noose from his bed sheet.

Douglas County Sheriff’s Sgt. Tom Mezzetta said the youth pulled the sheet through a grate in the ceiling of his cell.

Mezzetta said the teen had the sheet around his neck for less than a minute.



“The alert staff on duty discovered him immediately and was able to rescue him,” Mezzetta said.

He said paramedics were called and the teen required no medical treatment. He is to be transferred to the West Hills Hospital in Reno for evaluation.



“When he came into the facility there was no indication he was suicidal or had any other problems,” Mezzetta said.

He said the youth had been in the detention center since Friday when he was transferred from China Spring Youth Camp south of Gardnerville for a “cooling off” period.

Mezzetta said the Stateline facility holds 16 juveniles. There were 15 youths in the detention center when the suicide attempt occurred.

Mezzetta said cells are checked every 10 to 15 minutes.

“They just happened upon him at the right moment. It couldn’t have been longer than one minute before they found him,” Mezzetta said.

He said officials were changing the grates in the ceiling to make the openings smaller.


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