Actor Daniel von Bargen is in critical condition after shooting himself in the head in an apparent suicide attempt. The actor, who played George Costanza's (Jason Alexander) boss Mr. Kruger during the final seasons of Seinfeld, called 911 after he survived a self-inflicted shot to the temple on Monday morning.
"I've shot myself in the head but it didn't work... I need help," Von Bargen, 61, says in the recorded 911 call, obtained by TMZ.
When asked if the shooting was an accident, Von Bargen told the operator that he did it deliberately to avoid going to the hospital for an amputation procedure.
"They were going to amputate at least a few toes," said Von Bargen, who reportedly suffers from severe diabetes. "I've already had one leg amputated... I'm tired."
I don't want to seem morbid, but I can't help but wonder why he didn't shoot himself in the head a second time.
Was he so incapacitated that he couldn't shoot himself again--even though he was able to make a 911 call?
Or was there something cathartic about the suicide attempt--that having tried to commit suicide and failing, that somehow his will or need to live came back to him?
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11:54 AM
jaskispyder Member
Posts: 21510 From: Northern MI Registered: Jun 2002
That is about one of the saddest things I've read in quite a while. How did this even happen? He shot himself in the temple and was still coherent enough to talk on the phone! He may not want to live but it sure seems that someone wants him to live.
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06:07 PM
82-T/A [At Work] Member
Posts: 25007 From: Florida USA Registered: Aug 2002
I don't want to seem morbid, but I can't help but wonder why he didn't shoot himself in the head a second time.
Was he so incapacitated that he couldn't shoot himself again--even though he was able to make a 911 call?
Or was there something cathartic about the suicide attempt--that having tried to commit suicide and failing, that somehow his will or need to live came back to him?
Yeah, that's very true... I'm hoping that something comes out of this, that it gets some more publicity and perhaps helps bring more focus on the disease or something...
quote
Originally posted by ThatFieroKid:
That is about one of the saddest things I've read in quite a while. How did this even happen? He shot himself in the temple and was still coherent enough to talk on the phone! He may not want to live but it sure seems that someone wants him to live.
How did this even happen? He shot himself in the temple and was still coherent enough to talk on the phone!
How did he survive it? Simple. Not the best place to shoot yourself if you intend to die from it. Too close to the front of the brain, and most people would tend to inadvertantly angle the barrel slightly upwards anyway, sending the projectile up into the outer region of the brain close to the bone of the skull, with the bullet travelling left to right (or vice versa) accross the front upper area instead of penetrating deep into the brain. Many people will easily survive a wound of that nature. A shot entering from the front, or lower front would be more effective. "Eating a bullet" is the term used when the barrel is placed in the mouth, pointing up and toward the back of the brain. The projectile travels thru a lot of neural tissue before hitting the inside rear of the skull, and is almost always fatal. Yeah--way too much info.
A sad event for sure tho. Diabetes is now affecting so many many people and seems to be increasing all the time. I remember the guy from Sienfeld--he was the boss that thought George was handicapped and arrainged to get him an increased mobility scooter. Castnza went along with it, took advantage of the situation and got his just rewards. A funny episode--George was set upon by a group of truly handicapped folks and a race ensued--on those battery powered scooters.
[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 03-08-2012).]
Mr. Kruger (played by Daniel von Bargen): President of Kruger Industrial Smoothing, for which George Costanza works during most of the ninth and final season.
Kruger is noted for his total apathy towards his job and the success of his company. George's description of the company is "Kruger Industrial Smoothing: 'We don't care, and it shows'" ("The Strike"). George is often forced to push Kruger to do his work, to which Kruger usually responds, "I'm not too worried about it." He also attends the Festivus dinner. Kruger's company "botched the Statue of Liberty" job as they "couldn't get the green stuff off" and is infamous for losing money (when viewing the company financial reports Kruger nonchalantly exclaimed, "wow, we really took it on the chin last year").
Kruger appears in four episodes: "The Slicer", "The Strike", "The Burning", and "The Maid".
[This message has been edited by Boondawg (edited 03-09-2012).]
How did he survive it? Simple. Not the best place to shoot yourself if you intend to die from it. Too close to the front of the brain, and most people would tend to inadvertantly angle the barrel slightly upwards anyway, sending the projectile up into the outer region of the brain close to the bone of the skull, with the bullet travelling left to right (or vice versa) accross the front upper area instead of penetrating deep into the brain. Many people will easily survive a wound of that nature. A shot entering from the front, or lower front would be more effective. "Eating a bullet" is the term used when the barrel is placed in the mouth, pointing up and toward the back of the brain. The projectile travels thru a lot of neural tissue before hitting the inside rear of the skull, and is almost always fatal. Yeah--way too much info.
A sad event for sure tho. Diabetes is now affecting so many many people and seems to be increasing all the time. I remember the guy from Sienfeld--he was the boss that thought George was handicapped and arrainged to get him an increased mobility scooter. Castnza went along with it, took advantage of the situation and got his just rewards. A funny episode--George was set upon by a group of truly handicapped folks and a race ensued--on those battery powered scooters.
Yup. Your frontal lobes don't control vital body functions. It's more your personality, speech and such. If you want to kill yourself, blow out the base of your skull where it meet's your spine. If you shoot to low you still might sever your spinal cord or atleast damage it enough to ruin vital functions. If you shoot high enough you hit the part of the brain that controls all you involentary vital functions, such as.... heart beating... breathing...
[This message has been edited by Khw (edited 03-09-2012).]
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09:48 PM
84fiero123 Member
Posts: 29950 From: farmington, maine usa Registered: Oct 2004
Originally posted by maryjane: How did he survive it? Simple. Not the best place to shoot yourself if you intend to die from it. Too close to the front of the brain, and most people would tend to inadvertantly angle the barrel slightly upwards anyway, sending the projectile up into the outer region of the brain close to the bone of the skull, with the bullet travelling left to right (or vice versa) accross the front upper area instead of penetrating deep into the brain. Many people will easily survive a wound of that nature. A shot entering from the front, or lower front would be more effective. "Eating a bullet" is the term used when the barrel is placed in the mouth, pointing up and toward the back of the brain. The projectile travels thru a lot of neural tissue before hitting the inside rear of the skull, and is almost always fatal. Yeah--way too much info.
A sad event for sure tho. Diabetes is now affecting so many many people and seems to be increasing all the time. I remember the guy from Sienfeld--he was the boss that thought George was handicapped and arrainged to get him an increased mobility scooter. Castnza went along with it, took advantage of the situation and got his just rewards. A funny episode--George was set upon by a group of truly handicapped folks and a race ensued--on those battery powered scooters.
Don is completely right about the right way to shoot yourself in the head when trying to kill yourself. I read a book once on how to do it right. Surprised you shouldn’t be there are many books on the subject. It detailed how to do it successfully, cut the veins in your wrist lengthwise not across, shoot in your mouth with the gun pointed upward and toward the top back. Many other helpful hints on how to do it successfully the first time, most people try it as a cry for help and don’t really want to kill themselves so they don’t succeed. But then just as many are really trying to and don’t succeed, it sucks but it’s true.
Back to the thread at hand, he had already had a leg amputated not sure how high can’t find anything on the net about that other than what was said by him to the police on the phone. I had a older friend who had diabetes real bad and had toes and then the leg amputated later. I know it affected him a lot worse mentally than just losing his leg. People have a lot of problems that no one ever knows about we have members here who have problems we will never know about, and some we do.
I had a friend in high school, who was a girlfriend of my best friend; call me one night talking about it. I got over to her house as soon as I could because she was babysitting her younger brothers and sisters and we just talked all night until her parents got home.
Talking helped her, it will help anyone if they are willing to open up to you or anyone who is willing to listen. This guy just might not have tried what he did if he had been able to find a friend to talk to. I hope he is OK after this and doesn’t try again, next time he might just do it right. Seeing all the work he has done over his career as an actor it is a shame to lose someone of his talent.
Nothing is worth killing yourself over and it takes a lot of determination to do it to begin with.
