The same week the Peoria Police Department issued a friendly reminder that residents shouldn't kill themselves, it turns out a woman, who told police she was shot by an unidentified white male, actually shot herself.
"[Her story] was so vague we knew it wasn't true right away," Mike Tellef, spokesman for the Peoria Police Department tells New Times.
The story is as follows: about 10 p.m. last Tuesday, the victim called police and said she'd been shot in the abdomen by the unknown white male.
As Tellef says, the story didn't check out for a few reasons.
For starters, the woman was shot in her own home. Secondly, the gun used
in the shooting was still at the house when police responded to take
care of the victim. Also, the gun belongs to someone else who lives in
the home, Tellef says.
Once at the hospital, the woman was put into a medically induced coma.
When she was brought out of it the next day, she copped to shooting
herself, citing personal and family problems as the reason.
Earlier that week, three people committed suicide in Peoria in less than
24 hours, prompting the PPD to issue a press release with information
about preventing suicide.
"This is a time of the year where we see depression rise and this year
is not different. If you are depressed seek some help; doctor, clergy or
another professional," Tellef says in an
email.
If the victim in this case had succeeded, she would have marked the fourth suicide in Peoria in less than a week.
Read the Peoria Police Department's suicide info here.
