It was a gory sight in a Home Depot store in suburban Los Angeles on Wednesday when a man cut himself with saws, police said.
The man was in the store like every other shopper went to the tool section and began grabbing several small saws, and started using them on his arms.
“He cut both arms with hand saws down to the bone,” West Covina police Cpl. Rudy Lopez said.
Officers received several 911 calls and arrived to find the man lying unconscious in the aisle of the store in a pool of his own blood.
An off-duty paramedic from the Pasadena Fire Department who had been shopping nearby hurried to the scene and was of great help.
“The officers had already found the man down, face down, blood all over the store, multiple aisles, and the whole store is in chaos,” the paramedic, Art Hurtado, told KNBC-TV.
On getting to the scene, Hurtado initially thought the man was dead but when he checked, he found breath and a slight pulse and said he thought to himself, “I can save this guy.” And so he did.
Hurtado was joined by police and store employees in collecting rope and rags from store shelves to put makeshift tourniquets on both arms, most likely saving the man’s life, according to police.
“Were we in a good place for it? No, but you improvise,” Hurtado said. “If I didn’t have rope I’d have used my shoelaces. We would have made it work.”
Cpl. Lopez said the man was in surgery hours after the incident, but he couldn’t give further information on his condition.
No one knew his name or why he cut himself as no identification was found on him. He was not also heard saying anything while at the store.
Police interviewed about five people who said they saw what happened to the man who looked to be in his forties. Lopez said there were likely a lot more who couldn’t stand the gruesome sight and had to leave.
“It was pretty graphic,” Cpl. Rudy Lopez said.
