A 26-year-old man was taken into protective custody early Sunday morning after stabbing himself in the neck with a pocket knife while he was in the middle of the Animas River between the Purple Cliffs campsite and Walmart.
Between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m., the man had stabbed himself in the neck several times, and another man was attempting to help him when law-enforcement officers arrived, said Durango Police Department Sgt. Devin Conroy.
The Durango Police Department and La Plata County Sheriff’s Office responded.
Conroy said the knife used by the man was a short-bladed pocket knife.
La Plata County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Wes Doughty said he ”was screaming something about never being taken alive” when officers arrived.
Doughty said he believed the man was a resident of the Purple Cliffs campsite, for people who are experiencing homelessness .
Because of mental health concerns, the man was taken into protective custody and taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center for medical treatment, Doughty said
The wounds did not appear to be life-threatening, Doughty said.
Lindsay Radford, spokeswoman for Mercy Regional Medical Center, said the man was treated at Mercy and transferred to St. Anthony Hospital, a Level 1 trauma center in Lakewood, where he was in critical but stable condition.
