Police Respond to Reported Suicide Attempt Involving Propane Tank

A woman was found unresponsive with a propane tank inside of a parked car in an apparent suicide attempt, say police.

Several fire and law enforcement agencies responded to the incident in a car parked on a Norristown street on Wednesday, according to Norristown fire chief Thomas M. O'Donnell.

The incident happened around at Buttonwood Street and Airy Street, according to O’Donnell. It occurred around 1 p.m.

According to police chief Willie G. Richet, a woman was found in her car asleep with a propane tank; a family member had not been able to find the woman inside of their home and subsequently went outside to check the car.

The fire department tried to wake the woman but she was unresponsive, he said. It was said that the woman had been depressed because she lost her insurance and could not obtain medicine to address her back pain, Richet added.  

According to O’Donnell, the Norristown Police Department worked with the Norristown Fire Department, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office Fire Investigative Unit and the Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal in response to the attempted suicide.

A gas fume hazard was squelched by the Fire Department, say police. One person on the scene was sent to the hospital, but there were no other injuries, say police.

According to Richet, the woman was alive as of the late afternoon of Oct. 30.