A suicidal man appeared to try to saw his arms off at a Home Depot yesterday, West Covina police say.

He did such an effective job with the off-the-shelf coping saw he grabbed that he hit bone more than once, Cpl. Rudy Lopez told the Weekly. Luckily an off-duty paramedic was nearby and cops were quickly on the scene:

Working in a pool of blood, the paramedic and officers went MacGyver and improvised well, making a tourniquet out of twine and and rags from the store's shelves, Lopez said.

It might have saved the unidentified man's life. The guy was hospitalized in critical condition, Lopez said: Doctors were able to save his cut-up arms.

It all happened at 12:46 p.m. yesterday inside the store at 2220 S. Azusa Ave., police said.


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The guy, a man who appeared to be in his 50s, was not carrying ID, Lopez said. It's not clear why he did it.

Authorities today had contact with the man's family but had yet to release his name.

“He went in the store,” Lopez said, “and nobody noticed him.”

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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