Teen dies after jump from I-787 ramp - UPDATE: Young Man Identified

[Crystal]

Teen dies after jump from I-787 ramp
Identification of suicide victim not released

By CAROL DeMARE , CATHY WOODRUFF and DAVID FILKINS, Staff writers
Click byline for more stories by writer.
Last updated: 1:53 p.m., Thursday, December 13, 2007

ALBANY - A teenager, 17, jumped to his death from an interstate ramp this morning landing on the shoulder of the highway below despite efforts of motorists who stopped to help him.

The body of the teen, who was not otherwise identified this afternoon, was alongside the railing of the ramp that links I-787 southbound to I-90 east.

People stopped their cars and tried to talk to him, but he let go and landed on the shoulder of I-787 southbound, law enforcement sources said. The coroner was called to the scene of the 9:50 a.m. incident, sources said.

The suicide caused a massive traffic back-up, and Albany police were assisting the State Police Interstate Patrol.

A motorist driving over the Patroon Island Bridge from Rensselaer County this morning saw the suicide victim standing on the outside of the guide rails moments before he jumped.

The 50-year-old motorist, who asked that his name not be published, said he first noticed the traffic backed up on the ramp.

"I saw people walking and thought that was strange. Then I saw him," he said.

The teen was "kind of silhouetted against the sky," he said. "He struck me as tall and thin." He was wearing a tan-colored sweatshirt with the hood over his head.

Nearby was a parked pickup but it couldn't be determined if the truck belonged to him. He was facing the roadway of the ramp in the area past the split toward I-90 east and I-90 west. He was in the area where traffic would be going east.

The highway ramp from I-787 southbound to I-90 eastbound, leading to the Patroon Island Bridge was closed because of the incident, said state Department of Transportation spokesman Peter Van Keuren.

Traffic is being directed to I-90 westbound, and DOT is advising motorists to exit at Arbor Hill to get on I-90 eastbound, Van Keuren said.

Southbound traffic on 787 is backed up from the Exit 6 in Menands.

[Bob]

I wonder if that DOT traffic camera there got it.

[Crystal]

I wonder if that DOT traffic camera there got it.

When I tried looking they had the camera off, :whistle:

[MedicCook]

Those camera get just about everything.

[sws4420]

When I tried looking they had the camera off, :whistle:I'm sure that was just a coincidence. :whistle:

Nothing to see here, people. Move along.

[trojanmiro]

i stayed at my aunts last night and she lives in west sand lake. so i came home via i90-787. i saw all the cops and shit and the traffic back up but had no idea what was going on. i got home and news 9 just said it was closed due to police activity. a few years ago too when i was first with aimee someone jumped off the bridge onto the frozen hudson river. this time of year is always statistically the most depressing.

[Mikey]

i stayed at my aunts last night and she lives in west sand lake. so i came home via i90-787. i saw all the cops and shit and the traffic back up but had no idea what was going on. i got home and news 9 just said it was closed due to police activity. a few years ago too when i was first with aimee someone jumped off the bridge onto the frozen hudson river. this time of year is always statistically the most depressing.

yeah i know. He was a member of the siena hockey team, i sort of knew him.

[trojanmiro]

kid today or the one a few years back? im assuming today because im pretty sure the one a few years back was a woman. she actually tried to drive off the bridge but couldnt get over the guard rail, so she got out and jumped. she was determined.

[sws4420]

How sad is it when one fucks that up.

[Cutesunshine]

This kid was pretty determined.

I was glad it was a teen... as heartless as that sounds. Not like a middle aged guy with children who couldnt afford to give them a great Christmas. How would someone explain to those children their dad offed himself on a bridge.

I would never wanna be messy about it.

[Crystal]

I'm sure that was just a coincidence. :whistle:

Nothing to see here, people. Move along.

I checked the other cams and they were all working fine.


This kid was pretty determined.

I was glad it was a teen... as heartless as that sounds. Not like a middle aged guy with children who couldnt afford to give them a great Christmas. How would someone explain to those children their dad offed himself on a bridge.

I would never wanna be messy about it.

He's 17, these days we'll be lucky if he wasn't a daddy to.

[brattychickjess]

Bastids had the camera's off - I checked too.

Suicide attempts are ..I don't even know how to explain them - makes me see people in a different light. Especially those that do it for attention.

[MERV]

Bastids had the camera's off - I checked too.

Suicide attempts are ..I don't even know how to explain them - makes me see people in a different light. Especially those that do it for attention.

Look at all the lives he disrupted, the inconsiderate bastard. Why, if people are going to kill them selves, can't they sit in the corner and put a bullet in their head. They've gotta fuck up everyone elses day.

[sws4420]

Now tell us what you really think.

[Crystal]

I'm just glad he only took his own life and didn't go into a public place with a gun and shoot up mad people and then kill himself like the rest of the little idiots have been doing lately.

I feel for him. Depression is a terrible thing. And you don't think about the lives you are ruining because the way you see it is if they cared you wouldn't be depressed. I don't know what could be so bad at 17 to commit suicide, but doesn't mean he didn't have something going on in his life.

Suicide is a very selfish act, but very common.

[MERV]

Depression doesn't mean you don't know what your doing or how it's affecting other people. I know what it's like. I've been there before. As far as I know I'm still there. That's kinda why I go through stints on the board where I post non stop, then You won't hear from me in a few days. I have my own way of dealing with it. I keep my mind off of other things, and I find a way to move on past it. He knew exactly what was going on, and how it was going to affect people. If he didn't think about the lives he was going to ruin, he wouldn't have jumped off the bridge.

[Crystal]

I have my own way of dealing with it. I keep my mind off of other things, and I find a way to move on past it.

You have your way, he had his way. We all have different ways of dealing. Your what in your 30s? He's 17. Kids don't think like adults do.
And come to think of it he's probably better off, if he can't deal with the stress in his life at 17, he would have never made it as an adult either.

and just maybe he was on something for depression. Some of those meds can really fuck ya up.

[MERV]

You have your way, he had his way. We all have different ways of dealing. Your what in your 30s? He's 17. Kids don't think like adults do.
And come to think of it he's probably better off, if he can't deal with the stress in his life at 17, he would have never made it as an adult either.

and just maybe he was on something for depression. Some of those meds can really fuck ya up.

I'm not that old, yet..... But I've been depressed since the age of 14. It started at a early age, when my parents were going through a divorce. They started their divorce proceeding when I was 6, and it hit me at the age of 14. I knew the truth, but I could help but to believe that everything that went wrong with my parents relationship was my fault. I thought about killing myself at the age of 15. My grades went from straight A's to straight F's. I didn't have a care in the world.

You're right, kids don't think like adults, They comprehend things a lot more, and a lot better than we will ever give them credit for.

[brattychickjess]

There are many different ways of dealing with things that taking a dive off a very short bridge. I'm sorry but if anyone who could have stopped him from doing it meant he was only starving for the attention. Maybe it was the attention he was getting but didn't see it or it wasn't the attention he wanted. We'll never know.

I've been through depression, I've thought about ending my life a few times but NEVER would I attempt it - there is more to life. You got to fight through your urges, sometimes I think people need seriously help if they are just looking for people to show them attention that screams something deeper then no one knows.

[Crystal]

If he was looking for attention I think he would have done something that he might not have died doing. He was serious about dying. Maybe he was craving attention and that's why he did it but I don't think he DID IT for attention. How much attention are you going to get after your dead.....and how are you going to know who's giving it to you?

We don't know what he was dealing with. Shit we don't even know if it was depression that made him do it. He could have been on some really good drugs and been really fucked up at that point. I'm sure we'll find something out at some point.

And my opinion on depression is it fucks with your head. Everyone deals with it different. And sometimes the issues that cause depression aren't as bad as someone else's. Until we've walked in other people's shoes we don't know how we'd deal with other people's predicaments. And some people are just stronger than others and can fight the urge, some can't and give in to it.

[brattychickjess]

What if someone stopped him? Took the time to know what he was going through if he was going through something? Would it matter? I don't think so, I think he would spiteful and hateful towards that person because he didn't achieve what he was set out to do. Reason he jumped off a bridge onto another major highway - no one was going to stop him.

[Crystal]

I know when I go through my depression even if people are giving you attention you don't want it, giving you advice you don't want that either, you just want to live in your own little world and not be bothered at all. Most people when they go through it detach themselves from everyone. That's what depression is. Some people can't be helped.

[brattychickjess]

I'm just wondering that's all. I knew someone once who made it clear they were going to do something to themself and I rushed right there to help them. They wanted me there then without warning - I was out of their life and to this day I wonder if I made the right decision by stopping them. I thought I was doing something good yet I lost a friend in the process.

I know my brother goes through a lot and drinks a tremendous amount because he feels like he has to be this great person, he has to be the popular one, the one everyone likes. He found out the hard way - not everyone likes a drunk who's an asshole. I just see so much of it going on in my life with people I start to question it all - choices I made and such.

Suicide hits home to me - I think it is a pure and selfish act but I've seen it first hand and when I hear about it - that night replays in my head.

[MedicCook]

Jumping off a bridge is too boring. Now cashing into a gas tanker causing a huge fireball and incinerating yourself, that is creative.

[sws4420]

He should have had the decency to do it somewhere where he wouldn't have fucked up traffic.

[MedicCook]

Breaking News!!

The 17 y/o initially thought to have commited suicide was actually trying to hang a Ron Paul 2008 bed sheet!!

:whistle:

[sws4420]

Breaking News!!

The 17 y/o initially thought to have commited suicide was actually trying to hang a Ron Paul 2008 bed sheet!!

:whistle::rotflmao:

Now I feel even less sorry for him.

[MedicCook]

Imagine if it was true.

First Ron Paul = Child Abuse
Then Ron Paul = Killing Baby Seals
Now Ron Paul = Teenage Death

[sws4420]

...
It's believed he attended Shaker High School. The says it has set up grief counseling for students


http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S284471.shtml?cat=10114

I like the sensitivity in this article:
Police are still investigating a late-morning accident on the I-787, where a human body landed from a ramp intersecting with the I-90.

The incident occurred at around 10:00 Thursday morning, said state police.

Witnesses say a teenage boy was standing alongside the railing of the I-787 southbound ramp, apparently positioned to jump. Drivers pulled over and attempted to dissuade the teen from jumping.

He leaped anyway, landing on the west shoulder of the southbound I-787 .

The 17-year-old boy was pronounced dead at the scene.

Traffic was at a complete standstill at one point this morning and remained backed up on the I-787 south to I-90 East into the afternoon.

State police say they will release the name of the teen after notifying family. The teen was reportedly a student at Shaker High School in Latham.

In a statement sent at 6:23 p.m., state police still were not releasing the name of the boy due to "difficulties in contacting immediate family members."


http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/police_1253057___article.html/backed_body.html

[MedicCook]

Have you ever noticed how the people who did not know the dead kid always are the ones who carry on the most?

Insert Drowning Pool's 'Bodies' here.

"Let the bodies hit the floor"

[sws4420]

*asphalt

[MedicCook]

I remember a couple of years ago the guy who pulled his car to the side of I-87 SB just north of exit 12. He then calmly got out looked to his left and walked right infront of an 18-wheeler.

[sws4420]

Again, inconsiderate. Everyone has their problems and everyone has the right to die. However, this can be accomplished somewhere other than in a place where it's going to inconvenience people who have nothing to do with your wife sleeping with the mailman.

[MedicCook]

Not everyone can afford buy a gun. You can always use the garden hose from the tail pipe. That way is very effective as long as no one comes home early. Usually cutting the wrist does not work. Pills and drinking are iffy also. They usually end up with you puking up all the drugs and booze and just being sick.

[sws4420]

I feel like I'm in a lecture being given by Jack Kevorkian. :eg0prof:

[MedicCook]

I did a report on him when I was a senior in high school.

[sws4420]

ALBANY -- Friends say 17-year-old Marc Strizzi had so much going for him.
He was kind, thoughtful and excelled at pole vaulting and was being recruited by a number of colleges.

News that the promising Shaker High School senior was the person who plummeted 90 feet from the Patroon Island Bridge Thursday morning in an apparent suicide left many seeking support -- and answers -- to the senseless tragedy.

"He was smart. Funny. I can honestly say he's the last person in the world I thought this would happen to," said senior Alina Heim, a friend of Strizzi's.

His death occurred just hours after he showed up at school for homeroom.

A number of people apparently witnessed the 9:50 a.m. incident, including several motorists who stopped their cars and pleaded for the teenager to reconsider just moments before he jumped.

Strizzi's death is the second tragedy to hit the school this year; recent graduate Harrison Carnevale, 17, was killed by a reckless driver who crashed into his vehicle in Albany on July 1.

State Police investigators were still looking into why the teen would take his own life.

At school, Strizzi was a talented athlete who played volleyball and was named to the Times Union's Fall All-Stars Boys Volleyball team in addition to pole vaulting for the track team.

Yet for all his athletic accomplishments, Strizzi was an even greater friend, said Blaise Agnew Jr., who knew Marc his entire life.

"Everything he did he excelled," Agnew said in an e-mail. "And the amazing part of all this is that even though he was an unimaginable athlete, he was an even greater person. Anytime I was down, or I needed someone, Marc was there for me."

Agnew talked about how Strizzi once helped lift his spirits when he was down.

"I remember one time I was sad, I can't remember why now, it was during the third grade and it was probably some kid stuff, but Marc called me up and told me to come over. I went over to his house and we just sat in his basement and talked. This was just the kind of person Marc was."

A number of other friends also remembered Strizzi as funny and easygoing. But student Devon Sedgwick, 17, said Strizzi was also troubled.

He said he and his twin brother, Kyle, were close friends with Strizzi, as all three were members of the high school's track team. Sedgwick recalled his brother speaking to Strizzi "talking to him and convincing him that he had something to live for."

"He's always seemed like a mellow kid, but unless you talked to him, like you were close to him, like a family member, you would have never known," Sedgwick added.

Strizzi has two older brothers and a younger sister.

Around 9:30 a.m. Strizzi, who had been seen in homeroom, was spotted standing outside a guide rail on the Patroon Island Bridge.

A motorist who did not want his name published said Strizzi appeared "silhouetted against the sky" as he faced back toward the road wearing a tan sweat shirt with a hood covering his head.

Around 9:50 a.m., Strizzi stepped off the edge and landed on I-787, missing another guide rail by inches. A white sheet covered his body Thursday afternoon as State Police blocked off the scene and interviewed witnesses. They closed off a northbound lane of I-787 and the I-90 eastbound ramp.

An autopsy will be performed today at Albany Medical Center.

"He was so kind to everyone and was always asking what he could do to help," added Heim, another track teammate of Strizzi's. "When I started pole vaulting last year he would spend two hours after practice helping me."

North Colonie Central Schools Superintendent Randy Ehrenberg said grief counselors will be available today students and faculty. She declined further comment.

More than 300 friends had joined an online group Thursday in remembrance of Strizzi on the Web site Facebook.com.

Heim said she last saw Strizzi at a track meet on Sunday. A crowd had formed around the mat as he prepared to pole vault.

"He was going ridiculously high and everyone was watching him in awe," she said. "He was so graceful. He was going to break the school record this year, I know it.'

David Filkins can be reached at 454-5456 or by e-mail at dfilkins@timesunion.com. Staff writers Jimmy Vielkind and Robert Gavin contributed to this story.


http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=647117&category=ALBANY&BCCode=LOCAL&newsdate=12/14/2007

[Bob]

"He's always seemed like a mellow kid, but unless you talked to him, like you were close to him, like a family member, you would have never known," Sedgwick added.
Stating the obvious but it's most often over looked.

[Cutesunshine]

This last name looks really familiar. Grr. I cant place it.

I know most antidepressants have a suicide risk label on them.

[Crystal]

Constant, quiet toll in suicide attempts
Those who run local hot line fear recent cases could spark more

By PAUL GRONDAHL, Staff writer
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Friday, December 14, 2007

ALBANY -- It's a desperate act, often committed in private, kept out of the public eye by grieving family members and social mores.
Yet hardly a week goes by without a suicide somewhere in the Capital Region, for an average yearly total of about 90.


Although women attempt to kill themselves in greater numbers, about 80 percent of those who succeed are men because they choose more lethal means such as firearms. Ninety percent of those who attempt or succeed have been diagnosed with a mental illness.

Jill Ordonez, program of the Samaritans Suicide Prevention Center in Albany, is concerned about "suicide contagion" in the wake of a high school student jumping to his death from an I-787 ramp Thursday and the suicide of a man who also tried to kill his wife in Duanesburg Tuesday.

"It may not be suicide contagion, but it's disturbing and very difficult for the families," Ordonez said. "Suicide is a horrible perfect storm of life events that is different for each person."

The not-for-profit organization, begun locally in 1985, is short of volunteers. It has 20 trained volunteers and needs 40 more to staff its confidential hot line.

The hot line receives about 1,500 calls annually.

Samaritans also offer prevention education and support services for survivors.

"Our volunteers can't solve these deep, complex problems, but they offer a compassionate, non-judgmental ear and emotional support," Ordonez said.

The national suicide rate has steadily declined since the early 1990s, but two age groups -- teenagers and college-aged -- have seen a slight increase.

A common misperception is that the Christmas and New Year season is a peak time for suicides -- spring and early summer are the busiest periods -- although holidays can deepen depression and trigger suicidal thoughts.

Finding help

If you or someone you know is on the verge of attempting suicide, call 911 immediately. The local Samaritans Suicide Prevention Center hot line is staffed most days from 2 to 10 p.m., depending on volunteer availability. Call 689-HOPE.

For a 24-hour national suicide prevention hot line, call (800) 273-TALK.

[Donna]

was thinking of this as i laid down last night for sleep.....it really is a selfish fn act when it's all said and done. Yes, it's very sad that someone feels their life sucks so bad that there's nothing they can do or say to make it better for tomorrow. I've felt that way many times, especially as a teenager, but always had the gleam of hope that tomorrow it'd be better. Even through all the drunken depressions when the sky was falling and the end of the earth was near, I was too comfortable sitting in my own shit to off myself.

What can I do as a parent to prevent this from happening to my kids? Spend alot of time with them. Share my experiences from the age their at with them. My fuck ups, laughable and not so laughable, my embarassments (no, not the piss in the dryer, lol) my fears........they don't have to yap back at me, but when it's all said and done, I've thrown it out there that if that's what they're feeling, they're not the first ones to feel it, and it too shall pass. Sometimes a simple "fuck them, they're not worth your time" is all they need to hear to move on........

Dinner together. Sorry, sounds old fashioned, but it's important, and we do it every week, even at their lovely ages of 13 and 16. Brian hates it, but once he's seated and we start yapping and laughing, me and Jim can look at each other and know we got to know them just a little bit better. Its a good "check in" to see how they're doing, if anything, just by watching, if they don't feel like talking.

OK, i'll shut up.

[MedicCook]

excelled at pole vaulting

Maybe this is a clue?

[Crystal]

I heard the kids at school are talking about his dad was sleeping with his girlfriend. Dunno how true it is.......just something I heard. :whistle:

[MedicCook]

I heard the kids at school are talking about his dad was sleeping with his girlfriend. Dunno how true it is.......just something I heard. :whistle:

The dad was sleeping with the teenagers girlfriend?

[Cutesunshine]

Gross.

And how are you hearing about high school stuff ms crystal.

[Donna]

Maybe this is a clue?

OMG.......:rotflmao:

[Crystal]

Gross.

And how are you hearing about high school stuff ms crystal.

I have a friend who works at shaker. :happy:


The dad was sleeping with the teenagers girlfriend?

That's what the kids are saying. :whistle:

[Donna]

if that's true, it's hardly worth killing yourself over......kick dads ass, yes.......but maaan, it's just so sad....

[Crystal]

if that's true, it's hardly worth killing yourself over......kick dads ass, yes.......but maaan, it's just so sad....

My aunt tried to kill herself a couple months ago because her husband was sleeping with her son's girlfriend.
And I remember Keith's father had a nervous breakdown and ended up in the mental ward when he was sleeping with one of his son's girlfriends.

I agree though, definetly not worth killing yourself over. Especially with how popular it kinda looks like he was. He shoulda gave his dad a boot in the ass, spit in the girlfriends face and called it a day. :happy:

[Donna]

My aunt tried to kill herself a couple months ago because her husband was sleeping with her son's girlfriend.
And I remember Keith's father had a nervous breakdown and ended up in the mental ward when he was sleeping with one of his son's girlfriends.

I agree though, definetly not worth killing yourself over. Especially with how popular it kinda looks like he was. He shoulda gave his dad a boot in the ass, spit in the girlfriends face and called it a day. :happy:

my best revenge is staying alive...........:whistle:

[Crystal]

my best revenge is staying alive...........:whistle:

And smiling.

[Cutesunshine]

and screw his girlfriends mom.

[Donna]

and screw his girlfriends mom.

amen!

[sws4420]

Nothing with a vagina is worth killing yourself over.

[MedicCook]

if that's true, it's hardly worth killing yourself over......kick dads ass, yes.......but maaan, it's just so sad....

I say have a father - son tag team!!

[sws4420]

I know a Strizzi, but he's from Green Island.

I think. :unsure: