By Jackie Bruno and Mike Pescaro
Investigators say a male committed suicide using cyanide at 2 Rockmont Rd. in Arlington, Mass. (Published Friday, Sept. 4, 2015)
Crews responded to a hazmat situation Friday afternoon when a person used cyanide to kill himself in Arlington, Massachusetts.
Police say they were called to 2 Rockmont Rd. shortly after 4 p.m., finding a 15-year-old boy who had apparently committed suicide with the deadly chemical. That prompted what authorities called a Tier 2 hazmat incident.
Kathleen Bodie, superintendent of Arlington Public Schools, said in a statement that the boy's mother is a former teacher and librarian at Bishop Elementary School. Bodie offered her sympathy to the boy's family and said that support would be available at the high school.
Bodie added that resources for anyone in need were available here, and that the Massachusetts Suicide Prevention Hotline was available 24 hours a day at 1 (800) 273-TALK.
While the public school system has released the teen's identity, necn has chosen not to identify him or his family.
After the incident, a couple was evacuated from the house as a precaution, as were direct neighbors.
The road remained closed off Friday night as crews worked to decontaminate the area and investigate the incident.
"It's just bizarre, we saw the helicopters for a while," said neighbor Rick Murphy.
"The Metro Fire Hazardous Materials Team will go in there and decontaminate the deceased and decontaminate the home so that our investigators and the district attorney's office investigators can get in there and do their work," said Arlington Police Chief Frederick Ryan.
Neighbors expressed grief at the loss of a local.
"It's clearly a very distressed person who would do that, and a person who was probably in a great deal of psychological pain and wanted to end it, and was thinking of feeling better, not thinking of anyone else," said Modesto Hevia.