St. George Woman Shoots Herself in ER Parking Lot

Stock Photo, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – A 57-year-old woman was pronounced dead this afternoon after calling 911 and telling dispatch that she was at the Dixie Regional Medical Center Emergency Room and wanted to donate her organs.

Capt. James Van Fleet said the woman was sitting in her parked car in the parking lot when she then walked to the parking lot of the ER, sat down and shot herself in the head. Emergency personnel heard the gunshot and immediately began life-saving efforts.

The woman was taken into the ER where she was pronounced dead a few minutes later, Van Fleet said.

He said police were on their way to talk the woman out of committing suicide just as the woman shot herself.

Van Fleet said there are no plans to release the identity of the woman until Monday to ensure detectives have enough time to notify her family.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2011, all rights reserved.

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9 Comments

  • James T. July 16, 2011 at 10:06 am

    Were they able to harvest her organs?

    • Jen Watkins July 16, 2011 at 10:43 am

      DRMC has not confirmed. Not sure we can ever get that information if the family doesn’t want us to know

  • elliemae July 16, 2011 at 5:25 pm

    It’s doubtful that they were – but you never know. Unfortunately, when a person has a traumatic death it’s difficult to keep their body “alive” long enough to harvest the organs. Skin, corneal transplants, etc are possible (depending upon the damage to her body).

    It’s unfortunate that she wasn’t able to resolve whatever issues she had – my heart goes out to her family and friends.

  • s. christensen July 16, 2011 at 10:29 pm

    Find peace my friend as you reach the next plateau of life. Whoever you are, you were loved and will be missed.

  • Brett July 17, 2011 at 12:23 pm

    Pretty sure she was 55 and her last name is Lotz. Very very sad for her family.

    • meme July 17, 2011 at 2:35 pm

      You will definitely be missed. Tom, Ben and the rest of the lotz family, feel comfort in the love you will feel in these hard times to come. Rip

  • Diana July 17, 2011 at 4:01 pm

    why do people feel the need to out the name of this woman until the officials release it?

  • Not a Mormon July 17, 2011 at 4:23 pm

    No organs harvested – total waste of life.

    See, law requires she be transported to the medical examiner’s office so that she can be tested for drugs/alcohol and that her suicide was actually that, and not a murder. She’s pumped full of embalming fluid and chilling in the coroner’s fridge without a single organ removed…..except for her brain if 1st person reports are to be believed.

    Interesting note: a character on Desperate Housewives did the same thing, only it was inside the hospital, rather than the parking lot. A rather macabre example of life imitating art.

  • Roger July 17, 2011 at 4:27 pm

    @Diana – what’s her full name then?

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