By Crystal McGough
The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office identified the victim of this morning’s suicide as Trussville resident Joseph Alexander Eastburn.
The Trussville Police Department received a call around 7:30 a.m. from Eastburn’s employer at a Trussville heating and cooling company. The employer informed the police that the man had not reported for work and his company vehicle was not where it was supposed to be.
The police located Eastburn and the vehicle using the GPS system that was installed in the vehicle. Eastburn was armed with a gun and threatening to kill himself in an open field off of Mary Taylor Road near Trussville
. The location was in the Birmingham jurisdiction
Birmingham Police Department’s Sgt. Johnny Williams confirmed that Eastburn ended his life around 12:30 p.m. after hours of talking to a police negotiator. There will be a suicide investigation, he said.
TPD, the Birmingham Police Department and the Moody Police Department were all on the scene. Williams confirmed that Eastburn was involved in one of MPD’s investigations, but could not give further information on the MPD investigation or confirm whether or not the investigation had to do with the situation.
“He continued to talk to a negotiator,” Williams said. “He stopped and eventually took his life.”