A student's threat to commit suicide with chemicals led to the evacuation of two ASU residence halls Wednesday.
Tempe's Hazardous Materials Response Team was called to Irish Hall Wednesday afternoon after a suicide attempt was reported on the building's second floor.
Initial reports said the student had barricaded himself in a bathroom in the hall's C-wing with a bag of what the student called chemicals.
"He was inhaling them, basically, and apparently it was an attempted suicide," ASU spokesman Keith Jennings said. "He was mainly a threat to himself."
Another student overheard the student say he was going to commit suicide and reported the threat to residence hall officials. Tempe police responded shortly before 4 p.m. and evacuated students from Irish and Best halls.
"One of the ASU police actually had a key to my room and just opened it up and told us we had to get out of there," said Victoria Nobel, a psychology sophomore who lives in the Irish C-wing.
The student was removed from the bathroom and taken to a local hospital. Students were allowed back into the hall around 6:30 p.m. Jennings said later that the student was apprehended for having barricaded the bathroom but has not been charged.
"They're treating him more as a victim," Jennings said. "He added that the student would be evaluated physically and mentally.
"They'll try to figure out why he was threatening himself," Jennings said.
The hazardous materials team conducted a pH test oto determine the acidity of the bag's contents. The test came out neutral. "It was water," Jennings said.
Reach the reporter at michael.miklofsky@asu.edu.
