Off-duty deputy stops possible suicide attempt

An off-duty Spokane County sheriff’s deputy possibly saved a boy who was contemplating suicide. Corrections Deputy Timothy Bliven was pulling his boat out of Spirit Lake when he noticed a juvenile male standing at the dock’s edge without a shirt on and “felt something wasn’t right,” said Sheriff’s Spokesman Deputy Mark Gregory in a news release. When he approached the boy, he noticed his hands were bound with a t-shirt. Bliven pulled the boy away from the edge and had a bystander call 911; the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office responded. The boy told authorities he was standing on the dock thinking about jumping in an attempt to drown himself. “Deputy Bliven’s swift response to this potentially tragic situation probably saved the man’s life,” Gregory said.