Southside Suicide

Southside Police are investigating after they say a 50-year-old man committed suicide in a parking lot at Southside High School. Police say their dispatch received a call around 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday from a woman who said her husband was going to see his children, who were at the high school, one more time before taking his life. Officers responded to the high school where they spotted the man's vehicle. They tried to stop him in the main lot of the school but he drove to an adjacent lot. Officers blocked him in as the man drove towards the practice field. Police say it was at this point that the man took his own life with a pistol. Police say that there were students on the practice field and they were moved quickly away from the area by school staff. Southside police say chaplains from the Etowah County Sheriff's Office, pastors from two local churches, and counselors also responded to attend to those on scene.