The playground at South Avenue Elementary School.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth

While Beacon Police and Fire Departments were responding to the car accident on Main Street of the car that drove on top of the other car, a middle school aged child was in the playground at South Avenue Elementary School with a knife, who the Beacon Police described as suicidal and may have been attempting to harm themselves, an Information Release from Beacon Police Chief Figlia reported yesterday.

The Information Release has been published in full below:

“On Sunday, November 1, 2026 at approximately 4:08pm, the Beacon Police Department received a 911 call for a middle school aged child who was suicidal and possibly in the process of harming themselves. The caller told police that the child may be at the playground of the South Avenue Elementary School. Officers arrived within minutes and quickly located the child, with knife in hand. The first officer on the scene immediately told a nearby family using the playground to leave the area for their safety and then began to calmly speak with the child, telling them to put the knife down, which they did. He then approached the child and made sure that there were no other weapons present and that they were uninjured. After that the child was transported for mental health assistance.

“If anyone is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please call 911 or the New York State Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.”