Fitzpatrick attempts suicide

Six days after being sentenced for bringing a handgun to Lewis and Clark High School, 16-year-old Sean Fitzpatrick apparently attempted suicide Wednesday evening at his family’s home near Freeman.

The teenager, who is on home detention as part of his sentence, swallowed a handful of Ibuprofen pills before being rushed to medical treatment by his parents, said Carl Hueber, the family’s attorney.

“His injuries are not life-threatening,” Hueber said Thursday when reached for comment.

The teen was admitted to Sacred Heart Medical Center, where he was undergoing psychiatric treatment Thursday, Hueber said.

At a May 6 sentencing in Juvenile Court, Hueber said his client was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. Fitzpatrick heard voices in his head – one good, the other bad – in the two years before the Sept. 22 incident at the Spokane high school, Hueber told the court.

Fitzpatrick took 30 over-the-counter painkillers that day, too, before going to school with his father’s 9 mm handgun. Police believe he brought the gun to school in an attempt to force police officers to kill him. When he pointed the gun at police during a standoff, officers shot him in the face, arm and stomach.

The boy suffered jaw and mouth injuries, and he wasn’t able to eat food by mouth until surgeons reconstructed his jaw and recently implanted an artificial palate.

Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney Steve Tucker declined to charge Fitzpatrick as an adult, which would have brought a much harsher sentence.

In Juvenile Court, Commissioner Joe Valente sentenced the teenager to 45 days of home electronic monitoring and 400 hours of community service. He will be monitored by Juvenile Court probation officers until he’s 21.

Hueber said he and Tucker both recommended against home detention, believing the boy’s psychological recovery would benefit from social interaction outside the family home. Home detention was recommended to the court by Juvenile Court probation officers.

Before being restricted to his home, Fitzpatrick would go to church activities and a gym to exercise with his father, Hueber said.

“Since the hearing, he’s become increasingly depressed,” the attorney said. Hueber said he hadn’t decided whether to return to court to seek a sentence modification.