WATSON/EFFINGHAM CO., Ill. - Another suicide - the third to hit the coverage area in a little less than a week - has occurred, this one in the village of Watson in Effingham County.
A press release from the Effingham County Sheriff's Office (ECSO) advised of the Monday, November 26 incident, which occurred in two phases.
Initially, at about 10:30 a.m. that morning, the ECSO responded to a welfare check at a residence in rural Watson. Sheriff Dave Mahon advised deputies responded and talked to a male at the residence, and he advised that everything was fine.
Then at approximately 12:03 p.m., ECSO responded to a 911 hang0up call at the same residence. Upon arrival, a deputy observed a male in the driveway near the house with a shotgun; he was accompanied by a female. The male retreated back into the residence and the female ran to the deputy. Backup units arrived and the sheriff's office attempted to make contact with the occupant of the house. He had claimed to do harm to himself and the female.
While evacuating the surrounding residences, officers thought they heard a sound that resembled a muffled gunshot around 1 p.m. and possibly another around 4 p.m. Additional assistance from the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System (ILEAS) was requested and they responded with a containment team and these continued to try and establish communications with the subject. Shortly before 5 p.m., the team deployed a robot into the residence. They discovered the male was deceased in a bedroom of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The Effingham County Coroner's Office was called at 4:58 p.m. Upon arrival, Coroner Kim Rhodes pronounced the individual deceased. An autopsy had been scheduled for yesterday (Nov. 27) to confirm the cause and manner of death. The man was identified as Brian S. Rieman, 25, from rural Watson.
The incident is pending investigation with the Effingham County Sheriff's Office, Effingham County Coroner's Office and Illinois State Police Crime Scene Services.
This material came from the aforementioned presser as it was distributed to mainstream media around the area in the form of a pdf, which for many on mobile devices (phone, tablet) is unreadable; therefore, we have typed it out for you so you can read it in full.
Other suicides plaguing the area includes the one in Lawrence County last week; and the one in Crawford County (Oblong) early Monday morning of this week. It's been revealed that the Oblong suicide was a hanging.