Suicide prevention committee hears police report showing April suicides and youth cases in Laredo

The City of Bedo Suicide Prevention Committee heard an April police report on April 29 detailing recent suicides, attempted suicides and emergency‑detention activity in Laredo. Sergeant Alos told members the monthly breakdown for April included seven attempted‑suicide calls, four attempted‑suicide reports, three suicides resulting in death, 80 emergency detention calls and 64 emergency detention reports.

Committee members pressed for specifics about timing and age groups. Sergeant Alos read incidents recorded between March 25 and April 29, including an attempted suicide March 25 (25‑year‑old female by poisoning and cutting), a March 31 attempted hanging (21‑year‑old male), an April 7 suicide (16‑year‑old male by gunshot), an April 14 suicide (18‑year‑old male by hanging) and an April 29 suicide (34‑year‑old female by jumping from a bridge). The sergeant said several of the recent teen decedents had prior histories of mental‑health treatment.

"Monday around 10:00 a.m. ... that's when we get the majority of the calls," Sergeant Alos said while presenting a heat map showing geographic concentrations in north, central and west Laredo.

Members asked whether the data could indicate veteran status so outreach to veterans could be targeted; the sergeant agreed to include a veteran flag or an asterisk on future spreadsheets where that information can be determined. Committee members also emphasized protecting families’ privacy and handling clinical records sensitively while using aggregate data to guide prevention work.

The committee did not take formal policy action at the meeting but asked staff and police to refine reporting fields (including veteran status where available) and to return updated data at a future meeting. The committee also discussed coordinating outreach with schools and local partners given the involvement of several young people in recent fatalities.