NEW YORK — Midnight officers in the 1 Precinct received a late night call from a distraught mother regarding her suicidal son. The panicked mother advised the officers that her son was armed and suicidal in a Tribeca hotel room. Officers Plevritis and Vultaggio rushed to the emotionally distressed man’s hotel room and tactfully approached the situation.
At the man’s hotel room door, Officers Plevritis and Vultaggio identified themselves and attempted to convince the man to let them in. After several failed attempts at voluntarily compliance, the officers entered the hotel room. Upon entering, the officers found the distraught man sitting on the edge of his bed with a revolver pointed at his head. Although the officers were in immediate danger, they were determined to gain the man’s trust. The officers’ training immediately kicked in as they listened and spoke to him to try to diffuse the situation peacefully.
“I told him no matter what was bothering him right now it wasn’t as bad as what he was planning to do. I just kept talking until I got him to put it down,” said Officer Plevritis.
After an intense few minutes, the officers got the man to put down the gun. They immediately confiscated the gun and took the man into custody for his and the officers’ safety. The emotionally distraught man was transported to Beth Israel Medical Center for evaluation.
