Pingree Grove cop honored for stopping suicide attempt

A Pingree Grove police officer has received a department commendation for throwing himself into the middle of a stabbing that could have turned deadly.

“It was a hectic situation, but everything came out good,” said Officer Christopher Harris, a third-generation police officer. “You never know what's going to happen, but you have to be ready for everything.”

At about 6:15 a.m. Oct. 30, Harris, 32, was sent to a house after police received a report of a 63-year-old man who had stabbed himself several times. Harris was the only officer on duty at the time and radioed for backup from Gilberts and the Kane County Sheriff.

Harris arrived to find the man lying on his garage floor in the fetal position in a pool of his own blood. He was bleeding from the abdomen, reports said.

The man's 63-year-old wife was trying to wrest the knife away from him as he tried to stab himself in the throat, reports said. As the man overpowered his wife and got the knife closer to his throat, Harris stepped in without waiting for backup.

“I actually jumped in and grabbed the knife and he kind of glanced up at me and he was struggling with me with the knife he wouldn't let go,” Harris said. “Eventually, I was able to gain control of it and strip it from his hands.”

Harris also repeatedly yelled the man's first name to keep him conscious until paramedics arrived.

The man, whom police say has a previous history of mental issues and suicide attempts, sustained self-inflicted cuts on both of his wrists and in his abdomen, reports said.

The man was treated at Provena St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin. Harris also took it upon himself to drive the man's distraught wife to the hospital when she couldn't reach a relative for a ride, reports said.

Police Chief Carol Lussky said Harris, an officer for nearly three years in the village, went above and beyond the call of duty that day.

He is the first Pingree Grove officer to ever receive a department commendation, Lussky said.

“Officer Harris disregarded his own safety and chose to take action, rather than wait for backup,” Lussky wrote in her resolution to the village board. “His actions during and after the event demonstrate Officer Harris's care and commitment to providing excellent service to the citizens of Pingree Grove.”