Report: Teen commits suicide on Justin.tv
Updated at 6 p.m. PST: Adds comment from Michael Seibel, CEO of Justin.tv.
A 19-year-old man has committed suicide while broadcasting himself on Justin.tv, according to a report at NewTeeVee.
The teenager took an overdose of pills while on camera and was apparently encouraged to do so by commentators on Justin.tv and a bodybuilding site, according to the report.
Justin.tv enables users to broadcast video live to the Internet. NewTeeVee said it confirmed the man's death with the Broward County medical examiner's office, which is near Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. This will undoubtedly raise questions about the power of Web video and whether its voyeuristic nature can go too far.
The young man apparently posted threats of killing himself to Web message boards in the past, according to numerous online reports. Because of this many of those who watched the man's suicide were skeptical that it was a legitimate suicide attempt and began mocking him.
Some viewers did take him seriously and contacted the Broward County Sheriff's Department. It appears that deputies broke into the man's room and discovered his body.
In response to the tragedy, Michael Seibel, CEO of Justin.tv, issued this statement to CNET News:
"We regret that this has occurred and respect the privacy of the broadcaster and his family during this time. We have policies in place to discourage the distribution of distressing content and our community monitors the site accordingly. This content was flagged by our community, reviewed, and removed according to our Terms of Service."
Greg Sandoval covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News. He is a former reporter for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. E-mail Greg, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sandoCNET.
Feel bad for him and the watchers though. :(
The why's are the same. The ways of communications are different.
Some people are so f***ing cruel and compassionless - it makes me sick.
ust to tell you, bodybuilding.com is down right now, IDK if its because of this or the guys buying stock share from it or something?
People, damn? Why do you think it was our fault? You guys werent even there? The comments about ?Go do it? or what ever were from trolls, troll are people that have nothing else to do but make people?s lives miserable, there were tons and tons of troll on bodybuilding.com, some posting sick pics and some bull **** about their identity or stats (body weight and lifting stats)
Honestly, why did it take like 24 hours to get on the news sties like this? its should be faster
Oh yea, if you do look at his post history, he was considered a troll , its like the boy who cried wolf, he posted so much bull **** that when he was actually serious, no one believed him? well its his fault, do not put any blame on bodybuilding.com?
Also, a quick scan of justin.tv's press area (http://blog.justin.tv/2007/05/press.html) shows no mention of this debacle whatsoever. Does anyone at the site monitor the live streams? If not, then that is clearly not a good business model.
it has the video (no its not sick or anything... hes just laying there)
Im gonna try to find it
( http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=I%20told%20you%20I%20was%20hardcore )
"To Whom It May Concern, I am going to leave this for whoever stumbles across my bookmarks later on. I hate myself and I hate living. I think that if someone who knows me reads this they will know who I am. So I will leave this unsigned. I am an a@#hole. I have let everyone down and I feel as though I will never change or never improve. I am in love with a girl and I know that I am not good enough for her. I have come to believe that my life has all been meaningless. I keep trying and I keep failing. I have thought about and attempted suicide many times in the past. I used to think of my failure as some mystical way of telling me that I was really meant for something meaningful. The only thing I dread, besides the pain, is the way my family will suffer. I do not want my mother or father to think that it was anything they did that lead me to kill myself. I never really had any plans of leaving a note. I thought that I would not be able to describe why I want to do this and I am right. There is no way to tell you or anyone else why I dread every new day. My father had such high expectations for me and tried to give me every opportunity to improve upon myself. I let him down. I think that I am a major disappointment to him. I have a job but I?m always broke and I am in college but barely, I show up to class but that?s about it. I want my life to end. I am tired of f@#$ing up everything. I am tired of people always telling me that they do not like me. I am tired of trying to be decent. I hope that someone finds this post and I hope that my parents know that I f@#$ed up not them. It is my fault I screwed up my own life. The hate that rages within me, rages not for those I love so dearly or those who have crossed my path. This hate rages full force towards me and only me. I have long forgiven those who've hurt me, but I have not and cannot come to terms to forgive myself for the things I have done to myself, and the things I've done to hurt those in my life. You have all touched my life in one way or another, especially those whom I call family. I cannot tell you how sorry I am for ending my life the way I did. I hope that you can all find it in your heart to see it as way for me not suffering anymore and that I am finally at rest with myself, for being at rest with the guilt that constantly ate at me for so long. Please forgive me all for taking my own life so early. I tried so hard to fight against this strong battle. I have reached out for help so many times, and yet I believe, I was turned away because of the things I did, that it is a punishment I am willing to take, for I know that being who I am has only brought myself and others pain. I love you all and will forever live within the memories we created. Forgive me. Love always and forever, As for my signature I will leave you with a quote so that if anyone reads this they will know it's me, "Can?t feel pain if your dead? Just Saying""
ALL TIMES EST
* Nov 19, 2008 4:56 AM: User CandyJunkie of BodyBuilding forums create a topic in the misc subforum announcing his intended suicide.
Thread: Ask a guy who is gonna OD (again) tonight anything,: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?p=247628331
* Nov 19, 2008 5:17-5:18 AM: CandyJunkie lists the drugs he has taken and will overdose on: 16mg xanax, 7 roxies, 3 ultram and lexapro as his remaining drug. He leaves a copypasta suicide note.
Thread: I?m gonna have 40 2mg bars of Xanax Tonight! http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=111785651
Thread: I?m trippin on bars on my webcam http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=112065441
* Nov 19, 2008 5:32-5:51 AM: User izaktj reports CandyJunkie is trying to sleep. Miscers play around with the thought of calling the cops, but ultimately shrug off the issue and thread. CandyJunkie?s webcam continues to roll as he lays motionless during the 6 hours the thread is ignored.
* Nov 19, 2008 12:04 PM: User baby_matty bumps thread, stating that CandyJunkie is ?still laying there.? Posters begin to suspect that CandyJunkie is no longer breathing because of the lack of movement on his webcam, pertaining to the expanding of the ribcage during respiration.
* Nov 19, 2008 1:03 PM: After alerting forum moderators, user AlexNipples receives controversial response from moderator ?Roxie? regarding taking action to save CandyJunkie?s life.
* Nov 19, 2008 1:05 PM: User IVEverLow posts thread linking to CandyJunkie?s phone number. A few minutes later, user Eshamed51 calls, is forwarded to voicemail and leaves infamous message ?Do it ******.? Posters begin to discuss CandyJunkie?s lack of movement as a sign of death or drug induced coma.
* Nov 19, 2008 1:53 PM: User Bulker reports CandyJunkie?s personal information, including name and number: Abraham Briggs; 954.918.1247. Suggests that they call cops. Posters discuss the legitimacy of the broadcast, considering the possibility that the video is a still image or on a loop.
* Nov 19, 2008 2:09 PM: Users take action. Bulker sends failed email to Miami police department, posts the Miami Police department contact information and urges other posters to contact.
* Nov 19, 2008 2:32 PM: Bulker calls Miami Police department 3 times with success, but fails to convey the urgency in his message.
* Nov 19, 2008 2:41 PM: User mophatthedamaja confirms CandyJunkie?s suicide note is indeed copypasta, while Normg002 posts link to CandyJunkie?s myspace page.
* Nov 19, 2008 2:55 PM: User jjlee138 announces successful communication with police; reports they are en route to CandyJunkie?s location.
* Nov 19, 2008 3:30 PM: Live on webcam, Broward County police break down CandyJunkie?s door and secures the area for an EMT to enter. A cop covers the webcam. The broadcast ends.
Forced entry to scene of an hero http://www.vkmag.com/videos/videos_man_pleegt_zelfmoord_achter_webcam/
* Nov 19, 2008 10:58 PM: Unconfirmed reports regarding Abraham?s status. "
***Stickam Crew***
To those who complained that people who wants or says they want to commit suicide is just attention w*ore is just out of their minds. First of all, thoughts like this don't come for no reason. And as more and more they say it and the person finds that they receive less and less attention, it will push them more towards actually committing the act, whether they think it would get them attention or not. I am no Mother Teresa, but I think that as a responsible human being, we must try to understand the situation, and hopefully try to talk to the person and see what we can do to resolve whatever issue. Remember, when they actually died, it is going to be too late. Maybe right now you think it is all his fault, but eventually you will see that your act, although not punishable by law, is just as bad as murderer. I just think at this point, had there been one message on there saying "don't do it. you will regret."....
People who commit suiside *DO* intend to kill themselves. Those who fail never intended for it to happen, or were just too stupid to know how.
Regardless, if someone wants to take their own life, then let them. If they are someone I care about (i.e. friends, family) then I'll try to stop them. But if its some joker off the web, hell i don't care who it is.
Don't balme the bystanders. Blame the dead guy.
This is a continuation of the mindlessness that viewership, be it TV or internet, has sunk to. While an on screen, realtime suicide isn't even close to the crap that the "reality TV" has sunken to, it IS the same sort of useless crap that too many have decided is "entertainment", both visually and on radio/satellite broadcasts.
I'm sorry for this poor SOB and his family and am abhorred by the idiots who egged him on but I am equally not surprised. Just an extension of "Jackass". I'm dumb enough to do it because I know it will bring me fame.
Great!
I hope the ones who did that realize now that they were wrong. They can't unsay what they said, or bring him back... and even without their adding fuel to the fire, he might have done the same thing anyway. But the ones who did said those things can learn what NOT to do in a crisis from here on out.
Never treat suicide threats as a joke. Nothing's worth the risk of thinking the person was joking, only to learn later that they meant it. :(
Whats wrong with that? If someone wants to end their life, let them. If I'm in a crowd of people and the person yells out that they are going to jump, I'll yell "do a flip".
While death is tragedy, people need to be responsible for their actions. If people want help from depression and such and are thinking suiside, they should call a hot line for these things and not impose burden of responsibility to innocent bystanders. That is the responsible thing to do, and if the one who is trying to die cannot be responsible, then I cannot help or control his actions. Might as well be entertained in the process.
Yeah it sounds evil. But you have to completely set aside what you perceive as your own reality and truly understand the nature of our society to understand the message I'm trying to convey.
Yelling "Jump" to the guy on the ledge, or egging on someone who's stated their intent to end their life, is like throwing a cinderblock to someone who's drowning. It's just not right. That's the time when the people on hand should be throwing a life preserver to the drowning person, instead of standing around judging and criticizing them for being in the water in the first place. At the time of crisis, who CARES how or why they got into the water? They're DROWNING. The correct procedure is to help them, and after the crisis is over, THEN worry about what triggered the crisis in the first place.
The day WHEN you or a loved one experiences the kind of mental and emotional anguish that this poor kid was going through, you'll understand. There's not a person on this earth who will go through their entire life without ever experiencing depression at least once. Until then, if you want to go around not only lacking empathy, but being proud of it, then I'm sorry to hear that and I feel sad for you.
And if they don't want help? Then what? I'll help them if they ask for my help. I'll give them a ride to a hospital, or find a suicide hot line for them, and stuff like that. But you see, there are people who trully want help because they can't help themselves, and there are people who come out and say they want to kill themselves. If they do, I don't stand in their way. If they come looking for help, yeah sure I'll help them. Standing on a ledge of a building isnt asking for help, its asking for publicity.
""The day WHEN you or a loved one experiences the kind of mental and emotional anguish that this poor kid was going through, you'll understand""
Been there, done that. I dont just talk out of my @$$ you know.
In a case like this, don't forget that the not-wanting-help could well be a symptom of the mental illness, which is what depression is. When it's the middle of a crisis like that, it's not the time to question whether the person wants help. They might literally not be thinking clearly enough to be trusted with that making judgement.
If someone finds themselves in a position to intervene in a suicide attempt, they really should do whatever they can, even if the suicidal person is NOT asking for help or is trying to resist it. If the intervention succeeds, once the suicidal person gets treatment and is in a better, more lucid frame of mind, THEN they might look back and be grateful that someone stopped them from applying a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
Regarding depression -- I've never attempted suicide, but I do know what depression is. Most people can say the same, of course. Depression is a part of life and is the natural aftermath of some kinds of life experience like a death in the family or a broken relationship. But I've also witnessed the fact that there are some unbelievably malignant levels of depression that NOT everyone experiences. (Anyone who knows what I mean will agree, and anyone who doesn't should say a prayer of thanks right now to whatever Supreme Being they believe in that they haven't been there/done that yet.) When depression gets THAT bad, and from that suicide note it looks like this unfortunate young man was having an indescribably severe bout with internal anguish, it's absolutely imperative that the person should get professional help.
This poor young man needed crisis intervention, and unfortunately, by the time anyone realized it and took steps to get him that help, it was hours too late. It's sad. My heart goes out to him and to his family.
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by Sabbath927
November 21, 2008 5:41 AM PST
- Since nobody else has done this yet let me be the first.
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Reply to this comment
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by
November 24, 2008 3:45 PM PST
- Yes, agreed. I have done this and encourage other to do so as well.
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by caribspice-2008
November 25, 2008 4:33 AM PST
- I am am fed up of people telling me howwell I look when thy dont really know me as a person or even care to know me. I am fed up of people staring at me like I am from space wehn I don't know their evil thoughts. I am fed up of people telling me how I look nice, or good or that I get thin or fat. i am really really fed up of their comments to me do they even care really NO?I am fed up of my clothes which seemto be thight on the legs and if I wear it without a belt it will still drop right off my butt. I am so fed up of it all their fake attention and dont appreciate it.Your fake attention is driving me nuts please
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Showing 1 of 3 pages (107 Comments)Would all of you who read this threas please give a moment of prayer or silence for the 19 year old victim please?
It doesn't matter how or why it happened at this point. We should reflect on the incident and realize how vulenerable we all are. When someone needs help there has to be someone to acknowledge that and respond appropriately to those needs. We need to care about each other and be able to come together for each other. Injustice to one is injustice to all; morally, socially and ethically.
May the grace and peace of God be with you all.