Rescue averts attempted suicide jump by boy at downtown Gainesville parking deck

Jan. 5—A boy hung from the top of the north parking deck in downtown Gainesville on Thursday in a possible attempt to take his own life, according to police and witnesses.

Emergency officials were able to pull the boy to safety about 12:20 p.m.

"I saw a dude hanging up across the building, about to jump off the very tip-top of the parking deck," Darryl Nations said. "The police pulled him up off of there."

Police said he has been transported to the hospital for evaluation.

Police were first notified about the incident at West Academy Street about noon.

School resource officers had been trying to locate the boy, who was believed to be experiencing a mental health crisis.

The boy was eventually found on the top floor of the parking deck. Police and the department's mental health clinicians began negotiating with the boy for his safety.

Witnesses said the person was hanging from the top of the parking deck, ready to let go when first responders made the rescue, spurring a wave of applause from bystanders and emergency personnel on the ground.

He was transported to the hospital for evaluation.

Catherine Gibson said she also saw the man hanging from the highest level of the parking deck as about 30 people, including first responders, watched from the street below. She said he was up there for about 30 minutes before he was pulled to safety.

"He just tried to jump off the building, and they caught him," she said. "They tried to do that a couple of times, and the final time they pulled him back up."

Reporter Nick Watson contributed to this article.

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