SPOKANE — A Spokane County deputy and former Moses Lake officer is credited with de-escalating a situation involving a suicidal male near Medical Lake earlier this week.

Shortly after 1 a.m. on Monday the Spoken County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a possibly suicidal male. Spokane deputies, including Deputy Paul Ouimette, a former Moses Lake Police Department officer, responded and discovered the male had left his residence and left a handwritten “goodbye” letter behind, according to the SCSO.

Deputies received additional information about the male possibly considering drowning himself and Ouimette started searching the east side of Medical Lake, eventually locating the male sitting on the edge of small cliff.

“The male would not say much but did reveal he was cradling a large rock. Deputy Ouimette continued to try to establish a dialog and build rapport with the distraught young man but maintained his distance to not inflame the situation,” stated the SCSO in a press release.

At some point the male pulled an item, which was later determined to be a razor blade, out of one of his pockets. He set the razor next to him, stood up and threw the rock, which had a cord/rope tied around it, into the water. The male later started walking toward Ouimette with the razor blade in his hand, dropped the item and was taken into protective custody for an evaluation.

The SCSO says Ouimette noticed one end of the cord/rope was tied to the rock and the other was tied to the man’s ankle. Deputies believe the male used the razor blade to cut the cord/rope before he threw the rock it into the water.

“Deputy Ouimette showed compassion for this young man in crisis and for his family, who were extremely concerned for his welfare. Deputy Ouimette thankfully checked the area of the cliffs and located the male,” stated the SCSO. “Understanding how precarious the situation was, Deputy Ouimette de-escalated it by talking with the young man (and) letting him know his family was extremely worried and cared about him, possibly preventing a very tragic ending.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.