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January 12, 2009

Another marital break-up apparently leads to suicide, this one in a local school yard

Sorry, that this and my previous posts deal with very bad news, but it seems that a fair number of people are having a rough time entering 2009, and some are despairing over the demise of their marriages. On Sunday, before 33-year-old Jason Montes of Concord shot and killed himself that evening after fatally wounding his estranged wife, a 53-year-old man from Livermore called his estranged wife Sunday to say he had a gun and was going to kill himself.


The Contra Costa Times says the wife told police that her husband, Peter Brook Jr., 53, was upset about their impending divorce. Police later found Brook's body at about 12:30 p.m. in a grass field at Leo R. Croce School on Scenic Drive, north of Interstate 580 and east of Livermore's Springtown neighborhood.

An autopsy still needs to be performed to determine the cause of death.

As I noted in my previous post about the murder-suicide of Serena and Jason Montes, it is useful for people to acquaint themselves with signs that a friend or loved one may be thinking about hurting himself or someone else. Suicide knows no class, social, ethnic, or racial boundaries, and attempts are often made by people who seem fine and happy--whom you could never imagine to be in so much private turmoil that they would want to end their lives.


The Crisis Center of Contra Costa offers some guidelines on how to help someone whom you think is at risk of hurting himself or someone else. So, does the Crisis Support Services of Alameda County, which serves Livermore and other Tri-Valley cities.

One key point the Contra Costa Crisis Center makes is: "There’s a myth that people who talk about suicide won't really do it. This is wrong. Before attempting suicide, many people make direct statements about their intention to end their lives or less direct comments about how they might as well be dead or that their friends and family will be better off without them. Any reference to suicide should be taken seriously."

If you or someone you know is thinking of hurting himself, call (800) 273-TALK or (800) SUICIDE. You can also call the Crisis Intervention line at (800) 833-2900. You can also visit the Contra Costa Crisis Center's website by clicking
here, or the Crisis Center of Alameda County by clicking here.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is with people committing suicide at elementary schools? There were two others earlier this year that I recall reading about on Claycord. Of all the places... why a place where children gather? So disturbing.

Anonymous said...

On one hand, it's good he didn't take others with him, but his choice of locatons was so selfish and dramatic. One last attempt at publicity and guilt placing against his family. Terrible.

Anonymous said...

I once read about an elderly man taking his own life on the steps of the coroners office. I will never be able to understand a person's mental state that would lead them to suicide, but it is grossly unfair to leave your remains for others to find. My grandfather shot himself in the chest with a shotgun, at home, when my mom was just 10. She will have those images in her mind FOREVER. What a shame.