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Man Threatening Suicide Taken Into Custody Near Tribune, WFLA Building

News Channel 8 photo by WILL STAPLES

Tampa police near an armed man who threatened to kill himself outside the offices of The Tampa Tribune and News Channel 8.

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TBO.com

Published: March 2, 2009

A man armed with a handgun and threatening to kill himself outside the building shared by The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com and WFLA News Channel 8 was taken into custody this afternoon by Tampa police officers.

No shots were fired.

The man was sitting against a wall near an area where WFLA photographers park vans and trucks, Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

When he refused to drop a .45 caliber handgun, officers used a Taser to subdue him, McElroy said.

The man is not an employee of the Tribune, TBO.com, WFLA or parent company Media General. It is unclear why he chose the location, McElroy said.

The man told police he had been very depressed and "couldn't cope," McElroy said. The man called the television station and told an assignment editor where he was about 5:30 p.m. Police also say the man might have called 911.

The man was taken into custody under the state's Baker Act.

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