A 23-year-old Ohio State student reportedly drank a fatal dose of sodium cyanide mixed with water Friday, hours after he dropped out of his winter quarter classes.
Jonathan Jay Larrimer, a mechanical engineering major, was found dead by his mother Tuesday after she received a delayed e-mailed suicide note indicating he was taking his life because of depression, said Columbus Fire Department Battalion Chief Doug Smith.
Authorities evacuated eight other residents at Larrimer’s 1242 Neil Ave. apartment complex, a few blocks south of campus. A small portion of the road was blocked off for several hours after the body was discovered because of the potential of deadly fumes inside, said Sgt. Brent Mull of the Columbus Division of Police.
“Cyanide, when mixed with acid, is dangerous,” Smith said. “With the acid in his stomach, if any air was released from his stomach, it could have been toxic.”
Smith said Larrimer’s mother went to her son’s residence Tuesday after she received the e-mail, four days after Larrimer’s death.
When she could not get an answer or gain entry to the place, police were called to the scene and they forced entry, Smith said.
“Medics noticed a container that was about the size of a paint can, about five pounds in weight,” Smith said. “We had everyone back out.”
Hazmat crews entered Larrimer’s residence, wearing blue protective suits and sampled the air, Smith said. Medics determined the air to be safe and placed Larrimer’s body inside two bags as a precaution.
“We run into hazardous material quite often, however this is the first hazmat run when someone ingested cyanide,” Smith said. “There is a question as to how he got it. You can’t just go to the store and buy this stuff, so we don’t know where he got it.”
Smith said Larrimer peeled the tracking label off the container of cyanide before he ingested it. When the container was found, the lid was ajar and most of the poison was still inside.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency also responded to the scene and an autopsy is being conducted by the Franklin County Coroner’s Office.
Pat Hardin, spokeswoman for Franklin County Coroner Bradley Lewis, said the body was found at 9:08 a.m. Tuesday.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, cyanide acts rapidly and exists in various forms.
The CDC said cyanide can be a colorless gas and sometimes it is described as possessing a “bitter almond” scent, however it does not always emit an odor.
